


It Will Come Back

by Layora88



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adorable Steve Rogers, Cannibalism, Caring Bucky Barnes, Female Creature, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Injury, Not all is as it seems, Recovering Sweet Bucky Barnes, Shark/Female, Siren, Sort Of, Sort of? xD, Unusual Friendships, darker ofc, mention of Hydra, mermaid, not a vacation guys, undesired vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2019-10-14 07:39:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layora88/pseuds/Layora88
Summary: Here's the WIP for real now.While on a less than ideal vacation...ie. a forced vacation that was no vacation at all when you looked at it, Steve and Bucky find themselves in an odd sort of place with an even more so odd sort of company. They meet Leah...a, well, they're not really sure what she is exactly yet. She's a curious sort of being and they're eager to get to know her better. Though somehow they're not so sure the Team would agree with them on that upon their first meeting.Either way, they meet Leah and she...sort of turns their world upside down, or more specifically, Bucky's world. Is it for the good? Well, only time will tell but for now, let's just say yes. :winks:





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This sneak peek is now a work in progress. <3
> 
> Also, didn't put this in the tags yet because I don't want to spoil too much, but there is a future Leah[Original Female Character]/James "Bucky" Barnes. The other relationship is also going to remain a secret for the time being because I like to have some surprises. xD 
> 
> I will update tags as I go. Rated Explicit, but right now it isn't exactly depicting anything close to that rating.
> 
> Also! I need FEEDBACK! Tell me what you're thinking! xD
> 
> Come chat with me on Discord! starbucksjunkie#9171
> 
> Don't have Discord? Come talk to me on Tumblr! [ko-fiandfanfiction](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ko-fiandfanfiction)

“You _stupid_ -“ Bucky hisses, struggling to get around his friend. “I just need another-“ And then suddenly he’s being tackled by 250 _plus_ pounds of super-soldier off of a _damn_ ** _building!_**

“I’m sorry, Buck-but I can’t lose you again-“ Steve gasped against his friend’s neck as he grabbed Bucky’s shoulders and twisted them in midair, wrapping himself around the slightly smaller man and forcing Bucky to curl into him.

They were falling and all of the air had been punched from the brunet’s lungs the second Steve had tackled him off the roof of the skyscraper. There’d been a bomb, another alien invasion[though on a much smaller scale than last time and _not_ courtesy of Loki] and there was no time, no _time_ whatsoever, not even a moment to call out to Tony who could have _maybe_ grabbed them _both_ and prevented all of this. But Steve hadn’t called out through their comms in time for a pickup and Bucky had been too distracted trying to dismantle the very technical bomb on the rooftop after having dragged it up nearly 17 flights of stairs to get it _away_.

So here they were, _falling_ …and Steve had Bucky wrapped up tight in his arms, his big _stupid_ back to the ground and Bucky tucked against his front staring at him wide-eyed and incredulous. If Steve had just _left_ him, called out to Tony and gotten his ass picked up, Bucky could have tried to dismantle the bomb for a second or two longer and if he didn’t succeed…? _Well_ , he could have at least done his best to absorb the impact so no one else would get hurt. But instead, they were _still_ falling and Bucky knew that the bomb had been wrenched from his hands and left on that rooftop…or, so he’d thought.

“Strange!” Tony was shouting through the comms and he sounded worried and far too panicked for either of the super-soldiers liking.

But then the Doctor himself was heard cursing and there was the unmistakable sound of his magic piercing their ears. Bucky winced, turning his head away as a blinding light enveloped them and there were explosions, gunfire of sorts going off around them and then he heard Steve cry out as they were suddenly transported somewhere…Bucky didn’t know where, but there was debris falling with them now and it wasn’t exactly feather-like, seeing as something had just _sliced through his tac-suit_.

He shouted, the pain stark and bright in his left thigh and then Steve’s entire body _jerked_ against him and the blond nearly lost his hold on his friend as a pained grunt left his throat. Bucky clung to him, shutting his eyes tightly for a moment against the stinging wind whipping about them. The light was still bright, but it wasn’t magic that was the source of the light; it was sunshine. But he couldn’t dwell on it right then, not wanting to understand it when they’d just been blanketed in darkness back in New York only seconds ago.

Steve moaned and Bucky’s gaze snapped up, dragging his head up from the blond’s chest to try and get a look at his face. He didn’t like what he saw. Blood was smeared against his temple and down the side of his neck. Steve’s grasp on him was not nearly as tight as it had been, but he was still hanging on. _Bless him_. Bucky thought wildly, not even willing to let him go even when unconscious. Because Steve was surely unconscious, face slack and yet etched in pain.

Bucky tried to get a breath in but it seized in his lungs. He chanced a look away from the man beneath him and moaned pathetically when he saw a sea of blue beneath them; _water_. They were going to land in the goddamned _ocean_ and _shit_ , Steve was going to have a panic attack the second he came to. Bucky heaved in a breath, fucking _finally_ and did his best to brace himself for impact. He couldn’t get himself turned around in time, there was no way. He would have given anything to keep Steve on top of him instead of the other way around, but that wasn’t going to be an option this time.

He didn’t feel the impact, didn’t feel the coolness of the water or the crushing weight of it as they were submerged beneath the waves. Time didn’t make sense then and after a while he felt as if he were being tucked into bed, the warmth of blankets drawing up around him, the press of a figure against him, leaning over and kissing his temple, the soft murmur of comfort into his ear and then he was drowning.


	2. Chapter 2

Bucky heaved in a desperate lungful of air, his entire body jerking with the force of it as he spluttered and jolted onto his side, coughing up several mouthfuls of sea-water. Steve was lying next to him and he…he wasn’t _breathing._ Bucky lunged towards him, getting himself onto his knees and ignoring the stabbing pain in his thigh and ribs as he started doing chest compressions on his friend.

“ _Damnit Steve!_ ” Bucky shouted, his voice hoarse and a cough wracked through him as he started in on CPR.

Three compressions in and he heard a sickening crack, grimacing as he kept at it. He was counting out loud, dragging in agonizing breaths of air himself and _willing_ Steve to just; _breathe damnit, I said breathe!_ On his fourth rep[and he realized long ago that he’d never stop, it didn’t matter _how many times_ it took to get his best friend breathing] he covered his lips with his own, tipping his chin back slightly to get maximum airflow and then Steve’s chest heaved and body jerked, enough as to dislodge Bucky.

He swore, spitting out the mouthful of water Steve had forced into him and helped his friend onto his side to spit up the rest that had taken up residence in his lungs. Steve coughed and spluttered for a moment, his eyelids fluttering, but he wasn’t by any means entirely conscious. He groaned and it sounded awful and jagged and Bucky thumped him on the back as he helped him sit up a bit to expel the rest of the water.

Steve moaned pitifully and Bucky wrapped his arms around him, holding him close as he murmured soft reassurances to him and then noticed the blood at the back of his head, clinging to his temple and neck. He’d hit his head, on what, Bucky didn’t know, but it was becoming pretty clear that he probably had a concussion and the paleness of his skin was even more worrying now that Bucky could get a good look at him.

“Alright, pal, hang on. I’ve got you,” He consoled, only getting a distraught moan in response as he attempted to lift him up in a bridal carry.

Bucky took a step and nearly lost his footing, finally looking around him and realizing that he was standing in _sand_. He was on a goddamn _beach!_ He cursed lowly, righting himself before he could take a nose-dive into the mushy stuff and readjusted his grip on his friend. He glanced around himself and saw that they’d been washed up on shore and it wasn’t a lengthy stretch of beach in the least. He could see they were probably on a very small island and he grimaced, wondering where in the hell they’d ended up.

There was tree-cover ahead of them, enough to let him know it provided a bit of shelter and deep enough that there could _maybe_ be people on the island but somehow he didn’t think they’d be that lucky. He shifted his grasp on his friend and started the short trek up the beach and into the trees. The sounds of the ocean’s waves at his back was somewhat soothing as he forced himself to take a few slow breaths to steady himself and as he walked beneath the first few palm trees and other interesting foliage, he lost it just as quickly as he’d found it.

He’d never seen a more beautiful place in the world, not in his long and rather unnatural life, either. He swallowed and then pushed out a rough breath as he kept on, looking for a good spot to get Steve settled and assess the damage. There was a rock-face to his left that was at least twenty-feet high and it would provide some cover and the trees were dense enough here that he felt safe setting him down. He glanced back over his shoulder as he propped Steve up between the rock and a couple of trees to his right.

A large rock-pool greeted him, the water still and very clear. It was so clear in fact, that he could see the bottom of the pool closest to him…before it tapered off into much deeper black waters. He swallowed hard and took a sweeping look around them. They were in a sort of clearing, trees and rocks and all manner of flora and fauna surrounding the pool and he pushed a deeper breath out slowly. He couldn’t hear anything or anyone nearby, even the sounds of wildlife were nearly muted here. He could hear insects and frogs and the waves, yes, but not much else.

He shook off the unease the lack of noise brought him and instead turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Steve had a concussion and he needed to be treated for it. So, he set about making Steve comfortable, removing some of his soaked uniform, the damn shield thankfully still strapped to the idiot’s back. He removed it and set it carefully aside before undoing the harness and stripping him of his boots, gloves, cowl and anything else that wasn’t strictly necessary.

Steve ended up in nothing but his boxers while Bucky laid out his clothes to dry in the sunshine. It was _hot_ , Bucky quickly realized, divesting himself of his clothes and weapons in much the same way. Though he did keep his tac-pants and more than a few knives on him as he stripped out of the rest of his wet clothes.

Upon pulling off what should have been his white tank-top, he realized two things; one, was that he probably had a couple of broken ribs and two, he’d lost his comm unit because it usually fell out right about the time he remembered to be careful with the shirt-removal and it definitely wasn’t there.

But he’d worry about that in a minute. Steve was his first priority.

He knelt down and with his bunched up wet tank, he dabbed at the blonde’s temple to wipe up the blood and carefully tipped his head forward to get a look at the back. Something had definitely hit him hard enough to break skin if the already healing cut was anything to go by. He shook his head at the sight of the clotted blood along the gash, making his hair look eerily black and took a deeper breath as he then sat down beside his friend. He settled Steve’s cheek against his good thigh, ignoring the burning pain in his left for another few minutes and instead carefully worked at wiping away the crusted blood to better see the wound.

It didn’t take long to clean up the mess and he resettled him back down against the dirt floor, careful to put his tac vest under the unconscious man’s head for some kind of cushion. He shifted onto his knees to examine his ribs and the fact that they were purpling so quickly told him that he’d at the very least broken a rib or three while performing CPR. It happened sometimes, he knew that, but he was pissed he’d done that to Steve. He’d already hurt him so much.

He shook his head in frustration, frowning at the unhelpful thoughts and did his best to shift him in a way that hopefully wouldn’t hurt his ribs when he woke up. Either way it was going to hurt like a bitch, but thank Erskine for his healing factor. When he was happy with his assessment of his friend, knowing that he’d have to watch him in case he did have a concussion and yet knowing his healing factor would be working just fine to get him back to 110%, he turned his attention on himself.

Glancing down at his bare torso, he realized that _he_ had at least two broken ribs and then upon further inspection, found that whatever had sliced through his thigh had done a real number on him. It was what he’d become familiar with Tony calling his latest brush with something sharp as; _just a flesh wound_. It was indeed _not_ just a flesh wound. He grimaced, sitting back on his haunches and stretched his leg out in front of him. He tore open the rip in his pants a bit, grimacing as the move made his ribs twinge very uncomfortably. But he’d endured worse… _far_ worse.

He clenched his jaw and went about assessing and then cleaning the wound, wondering if he wasn’t going to have to makeshift something to stitch it when Steve’s deep moan drew his attention. He immediately abandoned his own wound and moved to kneel at his friend’s side. “Hey, pal,” He murmured, placing a comforting hand against his friend’s now bared shoulder.

Steve moaned again, but tried to push into Bucky’s space. Bucky stilled him, both hands against his shoulders and shifted a bit closer. “You’re okay, Steve. Just relax, breathe in nice and deep for me, okay?” He instructed, rubbing soothing circles against his shoulders.

Steve muttered something incoherent for a moment and then breathed in shakily once, twice and then a bit steadier of a breath on the third go of it. “There you go,” Bucky praised. “That’s good, couple more deep, slow breaths for me, pal.”

Steve did as he was told and Bucky watched as his eyelids fluttered and then his eyes finally opened to settle on him. “ _Buck_ -“ Steve said hoarsely, his hand coming up to grasp weakly at Bucky’s flesh and blood arm.

Bucky patted his hand gently and hummed soothingly. “I’m here, Stevie, I’m here,” He consoled.

Steve whimpered and Bucky’s heart clenched, eyes roving over to the injury on his head and then back into his cloudy blue eyes. Steve was definitely still very much out of it. “You’re going to be just fine, okay? I want you to rest and I’m going to wake you up in a bit to check on you, okay? Gotta’ make sure we keep an eye on you, think you may have a concussion-“

Steve interrupted him with a wounded sound and tried to get up, the fool. Bucky growled a bit and carefully pushed him back by the shoulders to get him to stay. Steve whimpered softly and Bucky shook his head. “Stay put, Stevie. You’ve also got a few broken ribs. I need you to stay still for me, okay? Can you do that for me, buddy?”

Steve seemed to struggle with this for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he nodded, whispering his assent. “That’s good,” He murmured, rubbing his friend’s arms gently. “Just rest, I’ll wake you again soon.”

Steve didn’t have the energy to fight him or even agree and simply slipped off into sleep once more. Bucky sighed, looking around them again gaze falling back to the water not ten feet away. He shook his head and took a deep breath before forcing himself to get up and did his absolute best to studiously ignore the awful pain in his thigh.

He walked towards the too still water and gazed down into the clear blue. He could see little fish swimming about, nothing nearly as big as a hand though. His gaze flitted around the edges of the pool but he didn’t see much of anything useful. He glanced back to where he’d left Steve, laid out on his back and resting, skin still slightly damp from the water, but he’d be dry soon enough.

He couldn’t see anything else, just trees and he knew on the other side of the pool he’d find the beach again with more waves lapping at the shore. They were on a very small island and he doubted the Team was going to find them any time soon. He grimaced and walked back towards where he’d laid Steve’s uniform out. He rooted around in his utility pockets and suit pockets but didn’t find his phone, nor did he find Steve’s comm unit.

“Great,” He muttered, looking once again at their surroundings and back to where Steve lay looking vulnerable, _prone._

He swallowed past the lump in his throat and shook his head, unconsciously wrapping his metal hand about himself and cradling his injured ribs. “Could be worse, Bucky. Could be a hell of a lot worse,” He whispered to himself, thinking about what their potential outcome could have been when Steve had decided he didn’t want to leave Bucky on that bloody rooftop.

He only hoped the Team had been able to get rid of that bomb and hopefully the last stragglers that had escaped that damned portal. He shook his head, glancing up at the rock face at Steve’s back and couldn’t help relaxing a bit when he caught sight of the fruit hanging from the trees that bracketed either side of the jutting rock. “At least there’s food,” He muttered and started the annoying process of trying to get the damned fruit down with a couple of busted ribs.


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later and he still had no idea where they were, but the fruit he’d managed to gather was at least something he recognized, so he assumed they were still on Earth. Which, _awesome_ , by the way. Small victories and all that. Even though assuming _anything_ was never a good idea, he had to have some faith. He was in the process of peeling some of the mango he’d gathered after having managed to get Steve awake, when the blond shivered, casting his slightly unfocused gaze towards the rock pool.

Bucky stilled. “You cold?” He asked worriedly, knowing how much Steve _hated_ the cold and worrying that even in the 90 degree plus heat, Steve was cold and that his head injury was perhaps worse than he originally thought.

Steve shook his head very slowly and even then seemed to regret the small motion, his gaze was still trained on the water, but the motion hurt his injury and he grimaced, turning his attention back to Bucky. “No,” He whispered, gaze slipping to where Bucky was paring the mango into smaller slices for them to eat.

Bucky frowned, watching him carefully for a beat before he lifted a piece of the fruit to his friend’s lips. Steve opened his mouth to accept the sweet fruit and Bucky watched as his eyelids fluttered shut at the taste. He was still unsure of his friend’s behaviour though, he seemed a bit stilted. “What’s wrong? You feeling okay?” He prodded gently.

Steve swallowed the bit of fruit and let his gaze flicker back to the water, his eyes a little cloudy. “Feel like I’m being watched,” He muttered quietly, almost too quiet for even Bucky to hear.

Bucky blinked, his own gaze slipping around the clearing and then settling on the pool of water. But nothing was amiss. He chanced a glance back at Steve, but his gaze was still firmly fixed on the water. “We’re safe here, Steve,” He consoled, his voice a lot more steady than he felt. “I looked around, it’s a small island, no people.”

“No people-“ Steve reiterated blankly, his gaze shifting back to Bucky.

Bucky met it and gave him a reassuring nod, trying to smile and failing. “I’ll look after us, Stevie,” He promised. “Here, have another bite of this and then I’ll let you sleep,” He coerced.

Steve blinked at him and Bucky knew he was exhausted, his body needing the sleep and time to heal. Steve was always tired after an injury and would sometimes sleep for days if it was a bad one. Bucky inwardly grimaced, wishing he too could sleep and let his body heal properly. But now was not the time. Steve made a soft noise of agreement and Bucky lifted another slice of the mango to his lips. He ate it without complaint, though Bucky had to remind him to chew it slowly.

He’d managed to gather a small bit of water and store it in one of the travel bladders Steve had stuffed into his utility belt for them from a puddle at the base of the rock. He’d eyed it warily at first, but the colour was clear and didn’t give off any bad smells. It was runoff from the rock and after a few sips, he realized it was safe to drink. Thank goodness. So they had fruit and water, that was better than nothing and he was grateful for that much at least.

After Steve had drifted off to sleep again, he found his gaze straying back towards the rock pool, his back now to one of the trees, settled beside Steve. The water was still, it _looked_ too still and he wondered about it…and then a frog jumped into it from their left and he huffed out a breath. There was nothing _odd_ about it, no matter what his brain was trying to say to him. There was nothing strange about this place either, it was just a place. A little piece of paradise, even.

It _looked_ like paradise. He huffed again, looking back over at Steve who was breathing evenly as he slept, head curled up on Bucky’s tac vest. He felt his lips trying to pull up into a fond smile and let it settle over him and then tensed up almost immediately. He felt eyes on him. He stayed very still and as carefully as possible, darted his eyes to the left, towards the pool of too still water.

Nothing moved, nothing changed and when he calmly turned his full attention back to it, nothing had changed. He swallowed hard, because he could _still_ feel eyes on him and it-it felt _exactly_ as Steve had said; like he was being watched. He shifted slightly, sitting up a bit straighter, mindful of his ribs, and then went back to slicing up the mango still in his grasp, eyes firmly set upon the rock pool before him. If something was watching him, he was damn sure going to make sure whatever it was knew that he was watching it too.


	4. Chapter 4

When he’d woken up on the beach, it had been no later than noon, but now night was fast approaching, the Sun having started to set not long ago. Their clothes had dried completely and Bucky had done his best to dress Steve and himself, though he’d made sure Steve had the extra layer when it came time to sleep, Bucky remaining in just his tank-top and tac-pants. He let Steve use his vest as a pillow and his athletic shirt as a blanket, even if it didn’t cover much.

Steve had his too tight grey t-shirt back on and the top half of his uniform draped over him. He said he was warm enough without it the last time he’d woken up, but Bucky had draped it over him after he’d fallen asleep, just to be sure. Even with the sun having set, it was at least 80 degrees. Bucky was grateful, he didn’t think he could deal with the cold right now, not when he felt so unnerved by their current predicament and he was still stupidly worried about Steve; he was just better at hiding it nowadays.

He’d built a fire when he realized night was probably going to be approaching sooner rather than later and he was grateful he’d at least managed to drag his brain out of whatever hole it was trying to dig to accomplish that much. Fire equals warmth, it was that simple. They needed to stay warm and although they _were_ , he also knew fire could protect them…if need be.

So he’d built a fire, not a big one, just a small one that he could keep going on his own. It took a bit to get the thing lit, but then he’d remembered the matches in their waterproof contained he’d seen in Steve’s tactical belt and was never more thankful for the boy scout that is Steven Grant Rogers, even if he never really was one. After he’d managed to get the fire going, he felt infinitely better as the sun went down, because he could still see pretty well in the clearing they’d settled down in.

The light danced along the rock wall at their backs and spread out over the water a ways. It gave the place a slightly eerie glow, but Bucky had great night vision, as did Steve and they could still see the tree cover around them, the flowers and shrubs too. He couldn’t make out anything unusual in the dark and that was a relief at least. So, he settled in and did his best to keep himself alert, making sure to wake Steve every so often to feed him some mango and water while also keeping an ear open for his steady breathing over the din of the insects and frogs that seemed to come alive in the darkness.

His thigh and ribs were killing him and he knew Steve must be in pain too if the bit of sweat at his temple was anything to go by, but he steadfastly refused to say so, despite Bucky asking him. It wasn’t as if there was anything they could do about it either and Steve knew that, even in his exhausted state. He seemed lucid enough most times he awoke, but then later, Bucky would mention something they’d talked about and Steve wouldn’t remember. _That_ had him worried, but Bucky chalked it up to Steve being too tired and not really able to pay attention to what was being said when he was too busy focusing on eating and drinking what Bucky put in front of him.

Bucky knew Tony, Strange and the rest of the Team would find them eventually, he just wished he had an idea on how long it might take. Strange was usually pretty good with his magic, but evidently, he’d messed up a spell in an attempt to get them to safety in a hurry. He could only hope that the bomb had somehow made it off that rooftop and far, far away from civilians. Knowing the Team, they’d succeeded in that much at the very least.

A knot popped in the fire and Bucky’s gaze flickered towards the flames and then he was startled when Steve’s hand slipped out to grasp Bucky’s good thigh, _hard_. Bucky’s gaze jerked towards his friend only to find Steve, eyes wide and staring out at the water, mouth open as he seemed to struggle to find his voice.

“Steve?” Bucky murmured, placing his blood-warmed hand atop his friend’s, only to find it trembling.

“T-there’s-“ Steve said stiltedly and Bucky blinked, shaking his head as he squeezed Steve’s hand in reassurance.

“Steve, you’re scarin’ me, what’s the matter?” Bucky asked nervously.

Steve made a sort of wounded sound, but his eyes remained as wide as saucers. “Th-there’s something in the water, Bucky-e-there’s somethin’ _watchin_ ’ us-“

Bucky blinked and quickly looked out towards the water and he-he could _see_ what Steve was referring to. Two pin-points of light, the firelight reflecting off of them, but that’s _all_ he could see. He blinked as if to clear his vision, to make sure it wasn’t just a trick of the light, but when he opened this eyes again, they were gone.

Bucky inhaled slowly, trying to calm his suddenly rapidly beating heart. He squeezed Steve’s hand again in reassurance. “It’s just a trick of the light, pal. Just the firelight bouncin’ offa’ the rocks, that’s all,” He explained.

Steve shook his head a bit and Bucky frowned as he scooted closer towards him. “ _Hey-_ “ He said, a little more firmly.

Steve’s gaze instantly swept to him. “There’s nothin’ there, pal. Just a trick of the light, that’s all,” Bucky insisted.

“Just-just a trick of the light,” Steve repeated slowly and Bucky nodded, reaching up with his metal hand to brush some of the man’s hair out of his bright blue eyes.

Steve blinked and then a small smile crept over his features. Bucky saw relief flood his nearly panicked gaze and they suddenly looked a lot clearer. “You’re right, Bucky,” He whispered, with much more certainty than Bucky had felt about what he’d seen, but he wasn’t about to tell Steve that.

Bucky nodded and the glinting of the firelight off of his metal hand had him nearly flinching back when he realized he’d used _it_ to touch Steve’s hair. He forced his expression to remain open and neutral as he let his hand slip from his friend’s hair and settle on his own injured thigh, covering the bloodied gash so Steve wouldn’t see it in the light of the fire now that he was awake. He’d done his best not to let him see how deep the cut was, lord only knew how long he’d be able to keep it from him; he just hoped it was long enough to at least let it heal a bit more.

“Course I’m right,” Bucky said easily, hopping some of his old cocksure attitude was enough to fool his friend.

Steve huffed, too tired to actually laugh and nodded, settling back in his spot. Bucky adjusted his shirts for him and Steve didn’t say a word, though Bucky could tell he was fighting a stupid smirk. When Bucky realized, he rolled his eyes. “You’re still a punk, you know that?” He muttered under his breath.

That only made Steve break into an _actual_ smirk. He shrugged. “Wouldn’t have to be a punk if you weren’t such a jerk, Buck.”

Bucky didn’t bother resisting the urge to roll his eyes, _again._ “Uh huh,” He muttered, turning his head away to hide the beginnings of a timid smile.

He didn’t do a very good job and Steve fell asleep with a soft smile of his own on his stupid face, despite the pain, despite their situation and despite…well, _everything_. Bucky was secretly grateful, even for this. Because they were still _here_ and that’s all that mattered.

He pushed out a slow breath, gaze sweeping past their fire and towards the water once again. The twin-points of light were still gone and they didn’t return for the rest of the night, because Bucky’s gaze never left the water, so he’d been _sure._

.

The next morning brought the never ending cycle of life, the sun rising slowly over the trees surrounding them. Bucky was awake, _still_ and Steve was sleeping peacefully beside him, only the crackling of their fire, their steady breathing and the sounds of the muted wildlife around them. It were as if they were wrapped up in their own little bubble there on the island and really, Bucky didn’t mind it… _too_ much.

But, once Steve awoke and it couldn’t have been much past 6am thanks to his internal clock screaming at him to go for his morning run, Bucky realized they had another problem. Steve’s stomach made a _very_ unhappy noise and the blond blinked himself more awake to look to where Bucky was looking at him with a highly raised eyebrow. Steve had the decency to look sheepish, it had been _loud._

“I think we’re going to need more than mango to tide you over,” Bucky chuckled, a hint of a rare smile escaping him.

Steve gave him a timid smile in return, still looking sheepish…and then _Bucky’s_ stomach growled as if in agreement. The brunet blinked, glancing down at himself and then back up at Steve, only to finds friend fighting a stupid grin. Bucky rolled his eyes. “Alright, more than mango to tide _us_ over,” He conceded.

Steve smothered his smile behind a hand as he attempted to sit up, grimacing and only going a little pale around the edges with the motion. Bucky eyed him to make sure he wasn’t in danger of hurting himself and then stood up to survey the scene. Nothing had changed, nothing was out of place and he sighed as he looked around. It appeared as if they had really lucked out in the fruit department, because he was pretty sure those were bananas over on the opposite side of the pool. Now, how to get them down.

“I’ll look around some more, maybe I can catch a few fish or something, but there’s bananas over there at the very least. I won’t go far, but you seem a bit more coherent this morning, so just call out if you need me or see anything,” Bucky told his friend, checking on a few of his knives as he turned to make sure Steve had heard him.

Steve simply hummed and nodded, eyes scanning the clearing as he pushed himself up a bit more to lean against one of the trees instead of the cool rock. The ground was mostly dirt covered, a few rocks here and there, but it quickly turned to sand the closer you came to the pool of water, so Bucky was careful to find his footing before walking along the water’s edge.

The water was as clear as it had been yesterday, the blue absolutely startling compared to the bodies of water he’d seen in his long life. Looking into the pool he could see small fish, but nothing worth catching. There were bits of coral growing, plant life too beneath the water’s surface and he wondered at this place, looking around at the flora and fauna, the startling _green_ of it all. There were brightly coloured flowers, but he’d seen his fair share of pollen disasters to know better than to go and inspect them.

He made his way around the far side of the pool without incident and once beneath the banana trees, he looked back across the water to see how Steve was doing. He was sitting up, looking around them curiously, just taking everything in. He imagined he’d had been pretty out of it yesterday but he seemed better this morning, so Bucky was relieved by that much at least.

He went back to the bananas and soon he managed to get a few bushels down before bringing them back over to Steve. Steve kept himself busy with the food, obviously hungry and Bucky went back to the pool to see about the fish situation once again. He kicked off his boots and was in the process of unbuckling his belt when Steve let out a curious sound, drawing his attention.

Steve was giving him a stupidly incredulous look. “You’re not _actually_ going in there, _are you?_ ”

Bucky blinked, looking back down at the water in question. He shrugged. “We gotta’ eat something more than fruit, Stevie and I can’t leave you here while I go to the beach looking for bigger fish, so the little ‘uns I saw here will have to do us for now.”

Steve frowned, brows creased together in worry. “Please don’t go in there.”

Bucky’s brows pinched up in worry. Steve _never_ asked him for anything, least of all with a _please_ attached to his request. Bucky shook his head slowly. “It’s just water, Stevie. I’ll be-“

“It’s not the water I’m worried about with you, Buck. It’s what’s _in_ the water that’s got me worried,” He confessed so quietly Bucky struggled to hear him.

Bucky grimaced, shaking his head slowly. “There’s nothin’ in there that I can’t handle, pal. I ever tell you about that time I wrestled-“

He didn’t get to finish that sentence before he was interrupted by a large splash. On instinct, he took a step back and dropped into a defensive stance, knife in hand before he’d even made a conscious decision to _move_. Steve gasped and Bucky very nearly flinched when a rather large fish landed at his feet. It had to be at least two feet long and without thinking, he pinned it to the ground with a knife. It still writhed, he felt it under the weight of his hand as he continued to hold the knife, but his gaze was far too preoccupied with what _else_ was in front of him.

Because there were a pair of _eyes_ staring at him from the water, not right at the edge, but not far off either. He could see dark hair, nearly black with water and the eyes appeared curious, but guarded in a way he knew all too well. He swallowed hard and before he could voice a hello to see if they were friend or foe, whatever it was started drawing away and back under the water.

“T-thank you-” Steve called tentatively a beat or two later, his voice having gone a tad hoarse.

Whatever it was stilled, not completely hidden beneath the surface and they both watched as its eyes seemed to squint at them and Bucky had the strangest idea that it was _smiling_ at them and then it was gone, hidden beneath the water’s surface.

He stood there for a long moment, listening to the fish at his feet flopping and gasping before he finally put an end to its suffering and cut off its head. Steve cleared his throat from behind him, but Bucky didn’t take his eyes off the still surface of the water. “Yeah-“ He muttered. “I’m not going in there.”

Steve made a grateful noise before he managed to coerce the brunet back over towards him. They didn’t speak for a time, both still unnerved and yet incredibly curious by what they’d seen. Bucky stripped and prepared the fish as if on auto-pilot while Steve kept his gaze firmly fixed on the water, wondering if whatever had given them the fish was still watching... _waiting._

Bucky was startled out of a trance he hadn’t realized he’d worked himself into while he cooked the fish over the fire by Steve’s gentle hand touching his forearm. Bucky flinched at the contact, but Steve was always so patient and carefully removed his hand. “Sorry-“ Bucky muttered in apology, but he only shook his head.

“You were starin’ off there, Buck. Didn’t mean to startle you,” Steve confessed and Bucky nodded, clearing his throat before he allowed himself to settle in his spot next to his friend a bit more.

He was still tense, as was Steve, but they did their best to settle themselves. The food helped. They shared the fish and ate a couple of bananas and a mango between them and instead of talking about the one thing they were dying to discuss, they talked about the weather, they talked about the food and then they talked about being found. They knew they would be, it was only a matter of time and they were as patient as one could be with a mysterious being in the water that they both knew was probably watching them at every given moment.

They felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand up once in a while and they just _knew_ it had to be there watching them. It was an unnerving feeling, but they did their best to ignore it, however, Steve made a bit of a big deal about making sure to compliment how good the fish tasted perhaps a bit louder than strictly necessary, but Bucky did the same not a moment later. Whatever was in the water, they didn’t want to get on its bad side, if it had one. It hadn’t done anything to them, it was just the fear of the unknown and the fact that they might be stuck here for a few days that had them convinced that they should make nice in case they needed more fish.

It turned out they did need more fish, but they were both studiously avoiding saying so. Having super-soldier metabolisms sucked sometimes, but they’d long come to terms with it. They didn’t have to ask for it either, because no sooner had Steve’s stomach growled and it was _loud_ , did another fish miraculously land practically _in their laps_. Steve startled and jerked in surprise, gasping and wincing when the movement pulled on his ribs. Bucky stuck it with a knife, killing it instantly and then turned to see the water-creature with nearly its entire head above the surface.

It looked female, that’s pretty much all they could tell about it. It definitely wasn’t human either. There was a greyish pallor to its skin and what looked like black and almost silver shimmery scales of some kind that appeared around its temples. It had ears...nearly completely hidden beneath its no doubt longer hair, but they weren’t ears like they’d ever seen before. They were greyish too and slightly pointed and there was some kind of dark _fin_ either behind them or attached or _something_. They really couldn’t be sure at this point.

But her _eyes_ were what drew them in. They were nearly _black_ and they looked far too shark-like for either of their liking. But they shone in the evening light, the sun having gone down a while ago and only the warm glow of the sunset reaching them through the trees. The stars would be out soon enough and they could already see the moon high above them now that the sun wasn’t overshadowing it. But her eyes seemed to _sparkle_ , a shimmer to them they couldn’t place, but mesmerizing all the same.

Whatever it was, it looked a little sheepish and Bucky realized that it probably hadn’t meant to startle Steve with the fish. They wondered if it could speak and Bucky shifted, opening his mouth to speak, to say _thank you_ , but it started to turn away from them, slipping back into the depths of the darker water.

“ _Wait-_ “ Steve managed to breathe and the creature stilled, the water rippling around it.

It blinked and it _was_ a shark’s eyes they felt they were staring in to. Because it wasn’t a normal blink, it was as if two sets of lids closed and they closed _inwards_ , not up and down like human’s eyes. Bucky barely withheld a shudder at that and Steve made a curiously nervous sound at the sight. When it didn’t move and Bucky couldn’t figure out what to say or do, Steve finally found his voice.

“Thank you again, f-for the fish,” He whispered, and it was a whisper, his voice practically strangled with the effort to make himself speak.

Bucky forced himself to nod and then, “Thank you.”

It seemed pleased by this and they both watched as it tipped its head slightly to the right, thoughtfully observing them. Its darker grey lips began to stretch and dear _God_ , but it was _smiling_ and it was one of the most singularly terrifying and exhilarating things Bucky had ever experienced in his long life, because not only did he feel like it was trying to be _sweet_ , but it also looked like it was a split-second away from _murdering_ them where they sat without ever even lifting a finger.

Bucky did not miss the shudder that wracked its way through his friend’s body next to him, nor was he able to completely stifle his own. He tried to smile back and he knew Steve was attempting to do the same but the blond’s face had gone far too pale again and Bucky was sure his own cheeks had drained of any and all possible colour.

But the creature either had no idea what its attempt at a smile was doing to them or it knew _exactly_ what it was doing, because just as silently as it had come, it was disappearing beneath the surface of the water once again, leaving the pair staring off after it in terrified silence for far too long.

It took Bucky nearly ten-minutes of staring at the water before he managed to drag his gaze away from it to look at Steve, who was _still_ staring at where the creature had disappeared. Bucky cleared his throat a bit in an attempt to draw his gaze. It worked, but barely. Steve’s eyes were wide, face still pale and temple damp with a light sheen of sweat.

“You hungry?” Bucky asked tentatively.

Steve looked down at the fish Bucky’d knifed as it lay beside them. He shook his head. _Not anymore._ Bucky thought wryly and nodded, picking up the fish and starting to prepare it. “Well, we’re going to eat it anyway,” Bucky informed him and Steve simply nodded and started helping him with it.

 _Damn right_ they were going to eat it. Lest they draw whatever was in that water’s wrath and Bucky was certain whatever it was had one hell of one. He swallowed heavily at the thought and resisted the urge to look back at the water. Steve, however, didn’t bother to resist.


	5. Chapter 5

They finished their dinner in companionable silence, goosebumps prickling their skin but neither going so far as to comment on it. The sun had set long ago and neither were inclined to talk, just resting and letting their minds wander. But Bucky was tired, incredibly so. It usually didn’t bother him so much, because he could go for days with very little sleep, but he figured with the injury, the lack of substantial food source and the less than strenuous day, he was feeling more lethargic than usual and sleepy, so very sleepy.

The third time he’d stifled a yawn, Steve nudged him with his knee, drawing Bucky’s attention. “You should get some sleep, Buck. I don’t think you’ve slept a wink since we’ve been here,” Steve sighed.

Bucky frowned, glancing towards the water. “I’m okay, I can make it til’ morning, then maybe I’ll sleep.”

Steve sighed deeply, shaking his head a bit. “My head’s feeling better, Buck. You really don’t gotta’ stay awake on my account. I’m not even tired, honest.”

Bucky glanced back to his friend, taking in the colour of his skin, the steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath, the clearness in his eyes, the _honesty_ in his eyes. Bucky’s shoulders slumped, not realizing they’d been so tense. “Yeah, okay, I could use a rest. Just wish I had an alarm or something or at least a watch. _Hey_ , where’s that fancy watch you like to wear so much?” Bucky asked, gaze slipping down to Steve’s exposed wrist; no fancy watch.

Steve made a sort of curious sound, flexing his hands. “Uh, what watch?”

Bucky’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You know, the one you wore to that gala last week. It looked really fancy, all those dials and the big face.”

But the more Bucky seemed to talk about it, the more Steve seemed to grow uncomfortable, shifting nervously in his spot. Steve shrugged. “Oh, uh that one? _Well_ , I only wear it for special occasions, really. Definitely not while Avenging.“

Bucky hummed in understanding, turning his gaze away before Steve realized he’d seen the man’s blush, the flush high on his cheeks even in the firelight. Steve lying about the watch? Yeah, Bucky knew when he’d caught his friend in a lie, why he’d felt the need to lie about a watch though was beyond him. But Bucky _had_ seen him wear it around their apartment while making breakfast one morning, pretty certain he’d seen him wear it to the gym too, only to set it down carefully on his clothes in the change room while he got a workout in.

Either way, Steve didn’t have the watch now and Bucky wasn’t going to push him to tell him the truth when he was usually rather forthcoming about such things. Bucky didn’t take offence, he knew Steve would fess up when the guilt got to be too much. Poor guy, couldn’t keep Bucky in the dark for long no matter what it concerned.

Bucky inwardly sighed. “That’s a shame,” He murmured instead, glancing into the flickering flames of the fire while he fought with the urge to lay down; he could totally sleep sitting up.

“Lay down, Buck,” Steve chuckled, reading Bucky like the damn open book he’d always been around his friend.

Bucky rolled his eyes and moved to lay down on his side, Steve shoving his tac vest towards him to use as a pillow. “Just wake me up if you need a break, Stevie. I only need a couple of hours, _tops._ ”

Steve hummed, but Bucky knew the idiot would try and let him sleep until morning. Bucky just hoped the nightmares wouldn’t make an appearance. He could really use the rest.

.

Steve stay awake for the rest of the night, he really wasn’t _that_ tired and he did manage to sleep a heck of a lot while his body healed, thanks to Bucky’s watchful eye. His head was feeling better, as were his ribs, but he knew it’d be a couple of days before he’d be back to normal. Bucky on the other hand? Steve knew he hadn’t slept at all since they’d been here and his healing was being stunted by the lack of rest and good food. His serum was good, but it wasn’t quite as good as Steve’s. So, Steve vowed to himself to give Bucky a good night’s rest while he kept lookout over them. It was the least he could do for his best friend.

Bucky hadn’t stirred at all during the night, though he had turned over in his sleep, back now to the fire, and subsequently, the water. Steve’s gaze hadn’t been quite as restful. He’d found himself letting his eyes wander over the clearing, the rocks, the plants and of course, the water. But nothing was out of place, everything was still, just the sound of the waves, the rustling of the trees in the wind and the insects to keep him company. He thought it was a beautiful place, but it did make him uneasy.

Whatever was in the water was a curious thing and he wanted to know more, find out what it was andmaybe see if they could talk to it. He wondered if it was all alone out here, wherever here was, or if it had a family or group it stayed with. But there had been no sign of it all night and with morning well on its way, the first glow of the day slowly creeping over the horizon, he wasn’t sure if he’d get a chance to ask those questions.

He needn’t have worried.

There was a ripple in the water a ways out and Steve shifted, craning his neck a bit to get a better look, wondering if it had just been a fish or maybe the creature. A couple of seconds later, dark hair rose above the surface and he was met with those same dark eyes from the night before. He exhaled slowly, watching as it seemed to float closer to the shore where a few larger rocks were. It was watching him, watching it and it was a curious sort of thing to have its attention focused solely on him.

He tried not to shiver in unease as it reached its hands out of the water to grasp at one of the rocks, effectively draping its upper half over it. Steve couldn’t see much of it, only the dark, shimmery scales that covered most of its face, the paler grey centred on the middle of her face. The dark scales spread down its body to cover its arms and the backs of its hands and they looked glossy, shiny and black as anything in the dim light of the early morning and he swallowed hard as he noticed the creature’s nails, slightly pointed and black as ink as well.

The rest of its body was hidden, either behind the rock or beneath the water but he was sure he had seen a flash of paler grey like the centre of her face as it spread down her throat and the curve of what he thought might be breasts. He shifted, casting a wary glance towards Bucky, but the brunet was still sound asleep, oblivious to what was happening at the water’s edge.

Steve turned his gaze back to the creature to find it watching him with intense curiosity, its eyes bright, yet dark and clear. He didn’t want to wake Bucky, but he really did want to talk to it, see if it could maybe understand him at the very least. It seemed to understand him well enough when he’d thanked it for the fish, but he couldn’t exactly be _sure._

He blinked when the creature suddenly raised a slim hand and _beckoned_ him forwards. His breath left him and he cast a worried glance towards Bucky, thinking that he ought to wake his friend, just in case. In case of _what_ , he didn’t know exactly, but he did have a knife shoved in his boot so he supposed he had _some_ form of protection if he really needed it. He hoped he wouldn’t.

Carefully and as quietly as he could manage, Steve got to his feet, ignoring the slightly woozy feeling the wound on the back of his skull brought with it. He’d been up and down a few times the previous day and it’d been far worse then, so he figured he was doing alright. He made his way towards the water slowly and made sure to be very deliberate with his steps while attempting to keep his body language open so that it knew he wasn’t a threat. It watched him silently from the water, still half draped over the rock and as Steve came a bit closer, now standing on the sandy shore, it gestured towards the ground.

It wanted him to _sit._

Steve blew out a slow breath and nodded, smiling as best he could to let it know that he wasn’t a threat. He didn’t sit down exactly, more like knelt and then sat back on his heels, not wanting to be caught off guard if he did sit down with crossed legs or something. Once he was slightly more comfortable, he forced himself to meet the creature’s eyes.

They were bright and round and ultimately filled with curiosity which was a relief, because _he_ was feeling pretty curious himself, so he did the only thing he could think of. He smiled warmly and then said hello. “Hi there.”

The creature blinked and then its lips stretched into a small smile, head cocking to the side as if in thought. “Hello,” It said back.

Its voice was definitely feminine, Steve decided. It was only one word and yet it sounded very much female. “Y-you speak English?” Steve asked, feeling a little breathless all of a sudden.

It nodded slowly. “I speak many languages, but-“ She told him, her words slightly stilted as she tried to parse them together. “Broken-” She finished and Steve thought he understood that well enough.

“That’s alright,” He consoled, smiling a touch bigger at the fact that they could talk to one another. “I-I’ve never seen someone like you before.”

At this, her smile grew and it was reminiscent of the night before, the slightly pointed teeth and although it was an attempt at sweet, there was a dangerous tilt to it. “No one like me,” She murmured.

Steve swallowed hard, feeling rather unnerved and curious and like a complete idiot for not waking Bucky. “O-of course,” He agreed, trying to think of what to say to that. “Uh, do you know where we are?”

She blinked at him and her eyes did the weird double blink thing. He shuddered at that but she didn’t seem to notice. “I am in water and you…are in land.”

It was Steve’s turn to blink then. “That’s-what I meant was…we are on an island and do you know where that island is? Which ocean or country?” He tried.

She seemed to take a moment to think about this and then shook her head. Steve nodded, trying not to let his disappointment show. “That’s okay, I was just curious.”

“Humans are always curious of something,” She said plainly.

Steve chuckled softly in surprise, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah, I suppose we are. So uh, I’m Steve, Steve Rogers.”

She blinked at him, settling down on the rock a bit more and resting her chin against the backs of her folded arms. “Steve,” She whispered and then her eyes flickered to the side and Steve was wont to look over his shoulder because he was sure she was looking at Bucky.

“That’s my friend,” He told her. “We uh, sort of ended up here by accident. Our Team will be looking for us, but we’re sorry if we’re intruding on your home.”

“You fell-“ She stated.

Steve nodded slowly, thinking back to how they’d ended up here. “I found you in water and put you on land,” She went on as if it were no big deal.

Steve’s breath left him in a bit of a rush, clearly not having expected that. “You _saved_ us?” He asked in disbelief.

She frowned a little, her dark brows creasing slightly as she observed him. “I did not wish you to be eaten.”

Steve made a relieved and yet panicky sound all in one that had her looking at him very curiously. “Thank you,” He managed to blurt after a moment, relief evident in his expression.

She nodded slowly and settled a bit more against the rock, gaze flickering over his frame and seemingly taking in every minute detail. “Did you like fish?”

Steve nodded, grateful once again for this unusual being. “Yes, thank you again.”

She nodded, dark eyes slipping over his shoulder again and then there was an unexpectedly heavy exhale behind him and he just _knew_ Bucky was going to kill him for not waking him up. Steve slowly turned his head in Bucky’s direction and grimaced when he found his friend staring at them with wide eyes. “Hey Buck-“

“ _Steve_ -“ Bucky very nearly hissed and the blond winced.

Bucky was _pissed._

“I was just talking to-“ Steve blinked and then turned his attention back towards the being, making acareful gesture towards her seeing as he hadn’t exactly gotten a name from her yet.

When she simply looked at Steve and didn’t offer a name or anything, he sort of made an embarrassed huff. “Of course you were,” He heard Bucky mutter under his breath and then his steady footfalls as he approached them.

Bucky too knelt down carefully near Steve and the creature’s gaze strayed towards him, looking calm as anything. “Steve’s friend,” It said carefully, looking back to Steve for confirmation.

Steve smiled and nodded, gesturing to the brunet. “Yeah, this is Bucky-“

“ _Bucky?_ ” She queried, nose scrunching up in a clear sign of distaste. “That’s a funny name.”

Bucky blinked stupidly for a moment and was very nearly startled when Steve burst out laughing beside him. Steve laughing was such a rare thing, but lately…and Bucky would like to think it maybe had something to do with him, it was more easy to coax out of him. Bucky rolled his eyes in an automatic sort of response and couldn’t help huffing lightly.

“I’ve been told, many times,” He muttered, exasperation clearly getting the better of him. “It’s a nickname of sorts. I have a few of them, actually. But, you can call me James, if it suits you better.”

The creature seemed to think this over for a moment and then nodded slowly. “James,” She whispered and then a slow eerie smile tugged at her lips. “That’s better.”

Bucky shook his head despite himself and then asked. “Are you going to tell us who _you_ are?” He prodded.

The creature tilted its head thoughtfully for a moment as if deep in thought. “I am… _old_ ,” It said slowly.

Bucky’s brows furrowed, as did Steve’s. “Forgive me, Miss. But you don’t look _…old_ …” Steve objected.

“A compliment?” She asked, her eyes practically glittering at the mere suggestion.

Steve’s cheeks flushed lightly and he stuttered over his next words, Bucky barely managing to avoid rolling his eyes at his friend. Poor guy, even after becoming Captain America he still couldn’t talk to women. “Y-yes?” Steve practically squeaked and it only made him blush harder.

He really was hopeless.

They watched nervously as the creature leaned forward on its perch to look at Steve closer, a worried look suddenly crossing its features. “You-you’re… _pink…_ you won’t…explode, will you?” She asked nervously.

Steve made a sort of strangled sound and only blushed harder at that and Bucky knew he was desperately trying to make himself stop blushing, but well, you bring attention to something and it’s so much harder to stop. Bucky huffed, diverting the creature’s attention for a moment in hopes of giving Steve some time to cool off. “No, he won’t explode, he just gets like that sometimes,” Bucky tried to distract.

Steve nodded as the creature’s gaze swept over to him for confirmation a moment later. She nodded slowly, not quite believing what she was hearing, but willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. “Don’t explode, Steve,” She muttered, and her tone was both eerily concerned and laced with warning.

Steve sobered a little, the blush from his cheeks slowly receding. “I promise I won’t explode,” He rushed to assure her.

She nodded decisively and then turned her dark eyes back to Bucky who was clearing his throat. “So…do _you_ have a name?”

She blinked at him and they were both relieved when it was only one set of lids blinking this time. “A name-“ She repeated, looking between the two carefully as if thinking about what it meant. “Yes,” She said after a careful moment.

Bucky nodded gently, hoping he wasn’t going to have to prompt her for much more to get her to tell them, but when she made no further move to tell them, he sighed. “You’re not going to tell us your name are you?” Steve sighed, drawing the creature’s gaze.

She hummed low in her throat and the definitively feral sound sent goosebumps racing up and down their arms, making their hairs stand on end, Steve only _just_ managing to withhold a shudder. It was more than a touch unnerving. “Maybe…later,” She said and they could have sworn it sounded almost teasing.

Bucky huffed under his breath and nodded. “Okay-“ He conceded. “Maybe later. How about you tell us _what_ you are, then?”

“ _Bucky-_ “ Steve hissed. “That’s not exactly-“

But the creature was chuckling softly under its breath and _that_ sound had them inwardly cringing. It was so unusual, so eerie for whatever reason and Bucky barely resisted the urge to grimace. “I already told you,” She seemed to sigh. “I am… _old._ ”

And that really didn’t make too much sense to them right then, maybe at another time it would. Steve shook his head gently and smiled lopsidedly at her. “Well, if you don’t want to share that with us right now, that’s okay, we’d just like to be able to call you something, is all.”

She seemed to mull this over for a moment before she nodded thoughtfully, gaze flickering over the both of them for a long moment. “You call-you can call me…Leah,” She said quietly, as if she were worried they wouldn’t like it.

Steve’s smile softened and he nodded. “ _Leah-_ “ He murmured. “What a lovely name.”

The creature- _Leah_ -seemed to perk up at this. “Like it?” She asked, looking vulnerable for a split second.

Steve nodded eagerly, looking to Bucky for confirmation. “It’s a lovely name,” He agreed easily. “Better than _Bucky-_ “

She grinned at this, the finer points of her teeth on display as she turned her sharp gaze on him. “Of course it is,” She agreed, a dangerous glint to her eyes that had his belly swooping uncomfortably.

He covered it up with a low huff, turning to look at Steve curiously when he shifted back a bit to sit down properly in the sand. Bucky was still wary of their new acquaintance, however, and stayed exactly where he was. “So, Leah…h-how did you come to be in a place like this?” Steve asked curiously.

She turned her dark eyes on the blond then and made that unnerving humming sound again, but she looked thoughtful as she turned her gaze away, looking at nothing in particular that they could see. “I am…outcast,” She said quietly. “I came here to live quiet life away from…”

“People-“ Steve offered, watching as she gave a nod. “ _We’re sorry-_ “ He blurted.

Leah smiled very softly then, shaking her head as she turned her gaze towards him. “I am…glad you came here…it was…a lovely distraction- _no-_ surprise,” She confessed.

Steve returned her smile, shaking his head a little as he sat back a bit more. “I guess it must get lonely out here by yourself, but-at least you have such beautiful scenery to be around,” He said thoughtfully.

Bucky hummed in agreement, letting his gaze wander over some of the wildly purple flowers a few feet to his left, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the creature before them. “It is…beautiful here,” She agreed. “But lonely, yes. Do…are you lonely from your home?” She asked curiously.

Steve and Bucky both looked at each other, both trying to understand what she was asking exactly. “Well, we-in our home there are more people-“ Steve started, Bucky nodding along. “Our Team, the one I mentioned before? They are like a family to us.”

At this, Leah’s eyes widened to saucer-like proportions and she nodded. “Good family?”

“The best-“ Bucky found himself saying before he’d thought too much about it.

Steve turned to look at his friend, a soft smile tugging at his lips and Bucky willed himself not to look at him because he knew his sappy face would be too much for him to take. “The Avengers _are_ our family and they are definitely the best,” Steve agreed quietly.

“Good,” Leah murmured, nodding more to herself than to them at this point. “Avengers?”

“Team name,” Steve said gently. “We’re a sort of- _special-_ family.”

Bucky chuckled softly at this, unable to help himself. “If you call super soldier’s, a tin can, a god, a witch, a Hulk, a spider, assassin and spy a _special family_ -“ He joked without thinking.

Steve grinned wryly, looking over at his friend. “Definitely special.”

Bucky chuckled very softly under his breath at that and Steve couldn’t stop his grin at the small victory; Bucky’s smile was special all on its own, but his laugh? Astronomically so. Leah was watching them curiously, very intrigued by this new development. These creatures sounded quite… _interesting_ to her. “What…are _you?_ ” She queried suddenly.

“Uh-“ Bucky spaced and Steve shifted slightly in his spot.

“We’re uh, the super soldiers Bucky mentioned,” Steve said gently, hoping they weren’t inviting more trouble with the admission.

He sort of hoped she might open up a bit more to them if they were more forthcoming. They didn’t know how long they were going to be stuck there, so he figured they may as well try and make friends in case they needed her help in the future.

“Like Captain America?” She asked, completely throwing them both for a loop.

Both Steve and Bucky froze at the question for a moment too long and she soon grew uncomfortable, wondering if she’d overstepped. “Did I say wrong?” She asked nervously, shifting in her spot against the rock and looking as if she were about to pull away.

“ _No-_ “ Steve exhaled heavily. “You didn’t say anything wrong…I’m- _we’re_ -just surprised that you know about…Captain America, is all.”

She hummed thoughtfully looking back over her shoulder at the water as if contemplating what she wanted to say. “He was super solider long time ago, lost to the ice-the water-“

Steve swallowed heavily and nodded, nearly startling when he felt Bucky’s flesh and blood hand touch his shoulder in a quiet gesture of support. “Y-yeah, uh, he’s not really lost anymore…well, he _is_ , technically speaking, but-“ Steve trailed off uncertainly, unable to look at either of them for a moment.

Leah’s brow furrowed, both sets of eyelids blinking as she turned her attention back to them and it made Bucky want to shiver. “Not lost? Someone found?” She asked curiously, gaze flickering between them and then her eyes widened into what looked like horror. “Not-not by _Hydra-_ “ She breathed.

Now it was their turn to look shocked. “ _No-_ “ Steve quickly reassured. “Not by-not by Hydra,” He agreed.

She nodded, settling slightly and they both realized that the fins near her ears were flitting nervously in the warm morning air, despite there not being much of a breeze. They wondered if she were anxious and it was her body’s way of conveying that without her say so.

“How do you know about Hydra?” Bucky asked carefully, now more on his guard than ever, even with her obvious dislike of the group.

“Bad, _bad_ people-“ She stated firmly, shaking her head aggressively, water droplets flying free from her temples. “Tried catch me long, _long_ ago,” She explained. “Never succeed. I am too clever,” She explained.

They both nodded slowly at this, glad to see that their dislike of Hydra was a mutual thing. “They-they had me…” Bucky whispered after a moment, drawing her very close attention. “Kept me for a long time until I-until I escaped.”

“ _Buck-_ “ Steve whispered quietly, not wanting his friend to have to explain himself.

But Bucky just shook his head gently, casting a reassuring look to Steve before turning his attention back to Leah. “They are _very_ bad people, Leah. You’re right about that,” He agreed.

Leah watched him carefully for a moment and then nodded slowly. “Glad you escape,” She said quietly, gaze straying over him from head to toe.

Bucky swallowed hard and nodded. “Me too.”

They were quiet for a long moment, her gaze lingering on Bucky for a while or two too long. Steve shifted slightly and frowned as he looked down at the water between them, wondering if this might not be the right time but; “I’m Captain America.”

Leah’s gaze snapped towards him and Bucky could feel his friend’s shoulder tense beneath his hand. “You are him?” She demanded.

Steve nodded tentatively. “I was brought back and…my Team, my _family_ -“ He explained. “They helped me and then we helped Bucky.”

She nodded slowly in understanding. “Your family is good. Mine is…bad,” She admitted carefully.

“Bad?” Bucky asked gently. “Why?”

She shrugged, the gesture looking unnatural to her as she slid back off the rock she’d been draped over and slipped back into the water. Both Bucky and Steve found themselves leaning forward to see if they could get a better look at her but failed in doing so. “The did not… _understand_ me,” She admitted. “I did things…differently.”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked curiously, still leaning forward in an attempt to see more of her.

Leah hummed, swimming a little farther away as she continued to watch them, her dark eyes roving over their frames in a way that made them both distinctly uncomfortable. “They told me I played with my food too much,” She said simply, her gaze somehow darkening even further as she let the lower half of her face dip below the water’s surface.

Both men stared at her in confusion for what they were embarrassed to admit was more than a few seconds before they got it. At least, they thought they got it. They swore Leah’s eyes were twinkling as her nose dipped below the surface and a moment later, she disappeared.

They say in stunned silence for a minute or too letting the conversation just sit with them.

“We’re food, aren’t we?” Steve barely dared to whisper a couple of silent minutes later.

Bucky made a reluctantly agreeing noise and Steve nodded. “Of course we are,” Steve sighed.

Bucky couldn’t agree more. They always did manage to land themselves in trouble, especially when they were together. Well, wouldn’t be a Steve and Bucky adventure without a bit of danger, now would it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how'd I do? Haha. Enjoying this so far? I promise it's going to get better. n_~


	6. Chapter 6

Steve sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. He’d been picking away at the flecks of dirt and sand on his boot, bored out of his goddamn mind while he sat at the edge of the pool of water. Bucky had been resting most of the morning, though he’d said he wanted to go and see what other fruit he could gather, so he’d left Steve alone with explicit instructions to _stay away from the water, Steve or so help me-_

So, not two-minutes after Bucky had disappeared from sight, did Steve make his way to the water’s edge where some of the rocks cropped up into a bit of a shelf, perfect for sitting. Not that sitting here was all that different from sitting at the base of the rocks they’d been sheltered by. But, different perspective and all that.

Steve was in the midst of deciding whether or not he felt brave enough to remove his boots to maybe dip his feet in the water and clean himself up a bit, when Leah popped her head up out of the water not three feet away from him.

He’d deny it if anyone were to ask, of course, but he did startle and startle rather badly at her sudden appearance. “ _Jesus, Leah-_ “ He gasped, flinching so hard that he almost ended up sprawled on the rocks at his back.

Leah did have the wherewithal to look a touch sheepish at the way he suddenly spooked, but she didn’t really try not to look all that apologetic when she floated a little closer towards him. She merely huffed, watching him with careful dark eyes as he righted himself, hand over his racing heart, as if that would be enough to settle it.

“You startled me-“ He accused, shaking his head in his surprise.

Leah merely gave him this _look_ as if that were enough of a not-apology and Steve figured he wouldn’t be getting one as she murmured, “Do you want to swim?”

Steve floundered for a moment, mouth opening and closing. He didn’t. But how did he go about telling that to her delicately without unloading all of his problems and fears in regards to water? “I don’t-“ He blurted instead.

_Great._

“No?” She queried, shifting a little closer to where he sat, her shoulders still hidden beneath the water.

“Uh, well…I’m not a great swimmer…not really a fan of water, either,” He confessed, inwardly and maybe a touch outwardly grimacing as well.

“Ah-“ She murmured, gaze flickering over him and simply _looking_.

Steve swallowed past the lump in his throat and then cleared it with a slight cough. “Do-I guess you rather enjoy the water, don’t you?”

She hummed softly and it was a disconcerting sound that made the tiny hairs on the back o this neck stand on end. He suppressed the urge to shiver at the sound. “I enjoy the water, yes.”

Steve nodded, it made sense, seeing as she was in the water and all. He couldn’t help leaning over a little in an attempt to see more of her, curious as to whether or not she had a tail or something. Maybe she was a mermaid?

“Are you a mermaid?” He blurted and then wanted to stab himself in the leg for being so tactless.

Leah _scowled_ at him and Steve found himself wincing and folding in on himself. “I am _not_ a-a- _mermaid-_ “ She practically seethed and Steve was quickly apologizing, hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture.

“ _Sorry!_ I’m sorry, I didn’t-I’m just-“

She continued to scowl at him before she shook her head, shoulders rising up out of the water exposing more of her dark shimmery scales to his gaze as she swam towards the rocks he was sitting on. Steve attempted to move back, suddenly on high alert as she continued to scowl at him, but he was wholly unprepared as she gripped the edge of the rock farthest from him and hauled herself up out of the water to sit near him.

He froze, completely beside himself by what he was faced with.

He’d seen a lot of rather…unusual creatures in his lifetime. _Aliens_ even. But this? This he was completely unprepared for. He swallowed hard, eyes wide and disbelieving as he let his gaze flit over her frame…and if she wasn’t a mermaid…she was damn near close to one.

Not that he’d ever seen a mermaid before, mind.

She stretched herself a little, right hand supporting her as she braced it against the rocks, motioning towards the length of her body with her free hand as if to say, _do I look like a mermaid to you?_ Steve wasn’t about to mentally, let alone verbally think that _yes, yes she sort of did?_ Because she was still scowling at him.

Steve was helpless in his ability to restrain his gaze, however, even if he managed not to blurt out what he’d been thinking. He let himself just _look_ and found himself shaking his head in response…because Leah was…she was…

“I’m a Siren,” She sighed, all long-suffering and Steve looked on helplessly, letting his gaze roam along her frame, the way her dark, shimmery scales appeared to glint silver and grey in the sunlight coming in through the trees above.

Her curves weren’t exactly subtle ether and the way she’d practically draped herself along the rocks they were seated upon only stretched out her frame and allowed him to notice the way her middle seemed to be impossibly small, only for her hips to round much wider and then taper down into what was certainly a merm- _Siren’s_ tail.

The scales of her body glittered silver, grey and black as they neared the water’s surface where the nearly translucent silver of her fins disappeared beneath the water. He swallowed hard, gaze darting back up to where her body and tail seemed to meld together and he shook his head in complete and utter disbelief. Her belly looked softer than the scales that covered her tail, but she was clearly still scaled there as well, she just _looked_ softer.

Perhaps it was the colour of them that threw him, the paler grey, the less shimmer in her scales…she looked _supple_. He swallowed hard, realizing he was practically gaping at her like a fish out of water as he let his gaze sweep up the length of her body, taking in the sight of her soft belly, the gentle curve of her breas-

“Oh my God-“ Steve whispered, watching helplessly as she shifted, letting her arm that had been extended to motion towards the length of her body settle against her hip.

He couldn’t help following the motion with his eyes, taking in the way the darker scales melted into the lighter grey- _softer looking-_ ones in the more tender places you might find on a humans body. His gaze flickered up the length of her throat, finding more of that softer grey along her collarbone too and let his gaze rest helplessly upon her face.

She was watching him patiently as he looked his fill and Steve found himself shaking his head in absolute incredulity. “You’re so beautiful-“ He blurted, unable to help himself, clearly.

Leah bristled at this, not the reaction he’d been expecting. She huffed, rolling her eyes as she straightened up a bit. “I am _not_ **_beautiful_** ,” She scoffed. “I am terrifying, fearsome, _grotesque-_ “ She sneered and she…why…she said that rather _proudly?_

“Uh…” Steve breathed, confusion written plainly upon his face.

“ _Well?_ ” She demanded. “Aren’t I?” She challenged, a dark eyebrow raised in question.

Steve wanted to disagree. He really, _really_ did. She was one of the most beautiful otherworldly beings he had ever had the pleasure of meeting…but somehow, he wasn’t sure she wanted to hear such a thing. She was practically _radiating_ tension, demanding he disagree with her and he swallowed past the awful lump in his throat before he nodded stiltedly, breathing out harshly, “ _So_ terrifying.”

It’s not exactly as if it were a _lie._

She huffed, nodding shortly but seemed to settle a little bit as some of the tension left her body. Steve found he could breathe a little easier after that. “ _Good-_ “ She stated, gaze softening-only a little-as she let her own gaze wander over Steve’s frame. “How is your head? Still hurt?”

Steve blinked in surprise, unaware that she knew he’d been hurt, but he did suppose it made sense. Especially if she had pulled them from the water. “It’s doing better, thanks. Bucky took good care of me,” He admitted, voice lowering in case his friend happened upon them.

She nodded, humming again and the sound really wasn’t any less eerie this time around. He watched as she continued to let her gaze sweep over him, much as he’d done to her and now that she was much closer, still out of arms reach, however, and just looked her fill. He didn’t exactly feel self-conscious under her gaze, but he did feel a touch uncomfortable…seeing as she looked at him as if he were a piece of meat…now, granted-

“What are you doing?”

_Damnit_. Caught again.

Steve grimaced slightly, cheeks heating as he glanced over his shoulder to find Bucky standing at the edge of the clearing, arms heavily laden with an assortment of fruit, staring at him with a wide shocked expression stretched across his handsome face. “Um…”

Bucky’s eyes were wide at first, but now he was scowling at him in frustration as he practically stomped his way towards them, barely stopping to drop the fruit by the remnants of their fire before making his way towards the pair lying about on the rocks.

He pulled up short, however, as he caught proper sight of Leah as she settled even more-so, chin now resting in the palm of her hand, inky black nails pressing lightly into the softer scales of her cheek as she observed him over Steve’s shoulder.

He swallowed, suddenly struck still, speechless and well…very, very still. He wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at, but the word _mermaid_ came to mind. “A-are you a-“

“ _Siren-_ “ Steve interrupted quickly. “She’s a Siren, Buck-“

Steve’s gaze flickered to his friend briefly, noting the slightly panicked edge to his eyes and Bucky nodded. Not a mermaid then, _got it._

“Well…right now,” She admitted.

Steve made a soft noise in his throat, gaze quickly settling back on her. “Right now?” He questioned.

She hummed and Bucky grimaced at the sound, wanting to shake himself as little shivers ran up the back of his neck. His gaze fell towards her once more and he really couldn’t help but stare. She was beautiful…in a deadly sort of way. She reminded him a lot of the Widow, _actually_ -

“I change form…when it pleases me,” She admitted, as if it were no big deal.

Bucky blinked. _Steve_ blinked.

“T-that’s-“ Steve started to say, but had to clear his throat when it came out a tad strangled.

Leah raised a brow at him in question and Steve floundered. “Pretty awesome,” Bucky filled in, sort of at a loss, gaze still flickering over her frame and trying not to fixate on the fact that she had a _tail._

Steve nodded dumbly, looking rather flustered as his gaze settled back on Leah. Bucky’s did too, if he’s being honest. Sort of difficult _not_ to look at her, especially seeing as she was draped at the edge of the pond looking gorgeously terrifying, body glistening with water droplets and practically _sparkling_ in the afternoon sunshine. Looking dangerous and terrifying and beautiful in equal measure.

Well, then.

Leah huffed again, this time a little louder and they both watched curiously as her ribs expanded and they swore they could see little slits along her sides- _gills_ -moving, but not opening. _Christ,_ but she was _breathing_ above water. Bucky’s gaze flickered up towards her throat and he was pretty sure he could see three or four little slits there too.

He swallowed hard, shaking his head as he stepped a little closer. “So, you’re a Siren right now…what, uh…what _is_ a Siren exactly? I thought…maybe you were a-“

“ _Don’t-_ “ Steve warned quickly. “She’s not-“

Leah hummed then, clearly understanding what he was asking, sitting up again and bracing herself with her hand once more. “You thought I was a mermaid, yes?” She asked, voice tainted with something dark.

Bucky could see Steve grimacing out of the corner of his eye and he almost followed suit. “Well, I don’t know if I would go so far as to call you a mermaid…you do look a bit more… _dark_ than all the mermaids I’ve heard about in stories,” He reasoned.

Leah grinned at him and wow, _okay._ It was _all_ teeth.

Steve shuddered so hard Bucky thought he would slip right off the rock. Not that Bucky was fairing much better. He’d only _just_ managed to stifle the urge and even so, he grimaced. _Christ_ , but how was it possible for something so gorgeous to look so fucking _terrifying?_

“Mermaids are _soft_ -“ She practically spat and they both watched as the small fins behind her ears seemed to flicker in frustration. “ _Weak_ ”

Steve made a curious sound and her gaze instantly snapped to him. “They’re _real?_ ”

Her brows furrowed in confusion. “Of course they’re real.”

Steve cupped his hands over his mouth as he stared at her in shock, trying to absorb it all and make sense of it, surely. “Sorry, you’ll have to excuse us a second…we don’t-things like this-no, never mind, they happen all the time, but _mermaids_ , sorry, we’re trying to wrap our heads around the fact that they’re apparently real…and so are Sirens for that matter,” Bucky interrupted, reaching out and pressing a comforting hand to Steve’s shoulder in a show of support.

Not like their world was just turned upside down _again_ or anything.

Leah settled a little, gaze softening as she looked between the pair. “I suppose…it is a bit of a surprise,” She admitted quietly, looking a touch abashed at having just dropped information like that on _mere mortals._

Steve let his hand drop from his mouth and blew out a rough breath before nodding decisively. “So, mermaids exist and sirens exist then. How about you tell us a little bit about yourself, because as Bucky’s mentioned, we had no idea that mermaids existed, let alone sirens…so, what _is_ a siren exactly?” Steve queried, shifting and looking for all the world like a curious-albeit, tentatively shy-child.

Leah softened considerably then, though her gaze remained sharp as she let herself look them over as she thought about her answer. Bucky took the opportunity to sit down next to his friend and tried to keep his gaze from slipping beneath Leah’s throat…noting with more than a touch of amusement that Steve seemed to be struggling to do so as well.

“I suppose we have…similar traits to those of mermaids,” She admitted reluctantly. “Though I look…somewhat like them, we really are nothing alike.”

The pair looked at her in confusion.

She huffed, rolling her eyes before explaining. “I live under water like them, I have a tail like them. But mine is much, much stronger. My scales-“ She tensed suddenly and they watched in surprise as the scales rippled across her body as if they were locking down. “Are much harder than their silly protection and I am very fast in water.”

Steve made a curious sound and her gaze flicked towards him. “I am also…quite a fan of meat and they are… _not,_ ” She sighed.

Bucky cleared his throat a little. “Uh, what about-is it true that-“ He huffed, not sure if he really wanted to ask exactly.

“What did you want know?” Leah asked quietly, _gently_.

Bucky swallowed. Her voice sounded sweet, but he had no qualms about her being able to kill him where he sat if she was so inclined. He didn’t like the idea so much.

“Was uh-just wondering if the myths about sirens were true…about their song and all…”

Steve blinked, gaze returning to Leah curiously, obviously wanting to know the answer as well. “A sirens call?” She murmured, and there was a distinctive _purr_ in her voice that had them both shifting uneasily.

“I uh, guess, yeah. Like, do you lure unsuspecting sailors to their deaths and feast on their-“

Leah _laughed._

The sound was not pleasant.

Steve’s entire being shrunk in on itself and Bucky couldn’t stop the unpleasant grimace from taking over then. It was reminiscent of a villain’s laugh, Bucky thought. That gleeful cackling sort of laughter that made you cringe and recoil. So, not pleasant.

“No, James,” She chuckled darkly. “ _I_ do not call sailors, though…I’m sure others do,” She admitted, smiling thoughtfully.

Bucky cleared his throat slightly. “ _Right_ , so, not myths then.”

Leah grinned and it was eerily shark-like. “Not myths, no.”

Steve blew out a rough breath. “Wow, this is something else.”

Leah’s gaze strayed towards him and she sat up a little straighter, drawing her tail further out of the water as she folded her hands in her lap. Their gazes dropped to the way her tail shifted and they both realized that it probably functioned as one giant muscle, strong and definitely deadly. They didn’t doubt she was fast in the water, either.

“I am indeed, _something else_ ,” Leah said teasingly.

Bucky huffed softly under his breath and Steve was pleased to note it was laced with amusement. “Alright, _something else_ ,” Bucky teased back, his tone then softening as he added, “I found some fruit at the edge of the beach, would you like some?”

Leah smirked then and it had the unfortunate side effect of making both men rather uneasy, but she nodded. “I would. I go find fish for you first, join you soon,” She explained and they both watched as she suddenly pushed herself from the rock and dove back into the water with little more than a tiny splash.

Steve let out a slow breath and turned to look at his friend. “What the hell have we gotten ourselves into, Buck?”

Bucky shook his head, still staring off at the water where Leah had disappeared only a second ago beneath. “Haven’t the faintest,” He murmured, shaking his head in disbelief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's this sounding so far? Are you thoroughly confused yet? xD
> 
> Come chat with me on Discord! starbucksjunkie#9171
> 
> Don't have Discord? Come talk to me on Tumblr! [ko-fiandfanfiction](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ko-fiandfanfiction)


	7. Chapter 7

It was nearing the evening when Leah came back, not exactly the soon they had expected, but they saved some of the bananas and mangos they’d found for her as a thank you for the fish she said she’d bring back. They hadn’t exactly expected her to bring back four rather large ones, but she had and they thanked her all the same. She’d not exactly been subtle when she announced her presence either, startling both men so badly Bucky nearly threw a knife at her.

It wasn’t his fault he’d been startled like that. If she hadn’t practically _thrown_ herself out of the water and effectively beached herself, maybe he would have acknowledged her arrival with something a little friendlier. As it was, she _had_ done that and thankfully Bucky had stopped himself from loosing the knife in her direction at Steve’s startled _squawk_.

They both looked over to see Leah grinning feral-like at the pair as she hauled her fish out of the water, all dead and strung along a thick rope of seaweed and then pretty well _flung_ it at them. “Here-“ She breathed, still grinning at either the fact she’d managed to startle them or her find, neither seemed to know.

“Thank you,” Steve offered, getting up and making his way to where Leah was sprawled out by the water, her dark shimmery scales getting covered in sand as she shifted and squirmed until she was in a more comfortable position, forearms dug in the sand to prop herself up better to watch them.

“We can cook them over the fire, would you like that?” He asked, slowly turning to walk back to where Bucky had started tending to the flames.

She hummed noncommittally and waved a hand in their direction. “I will watch,” She informed them, eyeing Bucky’s careful tending of the fire.

Steve nodded, glancing back at her as he too joined Bucky near the fire, warily glancing between her and Bucky. Bucky was a little more on edge than Steve cared for, but he supposed he could understand it. Bucky didn’t like being spooked, neither did he for that matter.

Leah didn’t seem to notice or if she did, she wasn’t commenting, instead making herself comfortable about six-feet away from where they sat. She was on her belly, tail stretched out behind her and skimming the edge of the water and watching them intently, dark eyes flickering steadily over their frames and they both started to prepare the fish.

“So, uh…what do you do for fun around here? It’s awfully quiet,” Steve asked, attempting to stir up some kind of conversation to drown out the sounds they were making with gutting the fish.

Leah hummed, sending shivers up their back as she cocked her head, seemingly to think on this for a moment or two. “I suppose…I swim…watch-“ She huffed. “Hunt.”

Steve made a curious noise, but didn’t offer more for a moment. “So, you’re really all alone out here?”

Leah sighed then and they _both_ looked over at the sound. She was looking down at her hands as she made little shapes in the sand. “I am alone, it is what exile means for me. Sometimes…sometimes I roam, but there is no people, no creature to friend me.”

She sounded sad, forlorn even and both men were hard pressed to think of anything worse than feeling alone. They’d both been there and didn’t fancy seeing it in another being, even one such as Leah. “I’m sorry-“ Bucky offered. “W-we know what it’s like to feel alone.”

Leah huffed, still looking at whatever she was drawing in the sand, avoiding looking at them, clearly. “My fault.”

“It isn’t-“ Steve interjected, a little too harshly.

Her gaze snapped up to meet his, looking cautious and wary. Steve cleared his throat, lowering and gentling his tone as he continued. “Being exiled from your home because you were… _different_ , isn’t your fault. It’s theirs.”

Leah watched him quietly for a beat, not agreeing or disagreeing and she huffed slightly, unable to voice her thoughts. Her shoulders did settle though, so they thought maybe she felt a little better at having it said.

“Want some fruit? We saved you some,” Steve offered, picking up a partially cut mango and heading towards the siren.

She nodded, shifting up so that she was sitting before reaching out to take the offered fruit, Steve being careful not to spook her as he got closer. She took it just as carefully from his outstretched hand before settling back a little closer to the water. She sniffed at it and then both men tried not to stare as they watched her cut into the fruit with her sharp nails to cut out smaller bits.

They were quiet for a time, only the sounds of their little island _paradise_ filtering in alongside the crackling fire and their steady breaths as they roasted the fish over the open flames. They’d managed to make a spit to string up two of the fish at once and Bucky worked to make sure they were evenly cooked. They almost missed the softly uttered, “Thank you,” from the water’s edge as Leah finished nibbling at her fruit.

Steve just turned his attention to her and smiled kindly, murmuring reassurance, watching as her gaze strayed back to Bucky at his side. If her gaze happened to linger on Bucky for a little longer than perhaps necessary, Steve didn’t comment, nor did he.

.

“This is awful!” Leah cried, face scrunched up in distaste as she held the bit of fish away from her at arm’s length.

Bucky and Steve both blinked in surprise, not having expected that, clearly. “It’s awful?” Bucky asked curiously.

She nodded, rather fiercely actually, still looking at the piece of fish they’d given her in her outstretched hand. She made a sort of gagging noise and Steve watched helplessly as the corner of Bucky’s lips twitched, obviously fighting back a smirk.

“You ruined it!” She spat, making an annoyed gesture with the fish still caught in her grasp.

Steve huffed, making his way back towards her. If she wasn’t going to eat it, then he’d at least do so, so it didn’t go to waste. “We didn’t ruin it,” Steve chuckled and she shot him a _very_ affronted look. “We cooked it,” He corrected.

She scoffed, practically throwing it back at him and Steve grinned in response, catching the fish. She was acting like a child and it was _hilarious._ Such an impossible being, terrifying and strong, _dark_ and yet very much unhappy about the fact that they’d _cooked_ their food before eating it. Apparently she preferred raw fish then. He really couldn’t help himself; he laughed.

Leah’s eyes widened in response, staring up at the blond as he stood only a couple of feet away or so from her and then promptly glowered _petulantly_ at him. Steve kept laughing as he shook his head and went back to where they were about to put the other two fish over the fire. He traded the cooked fish for the raw one before going back over to Leah and crouching down in front of her.

She was scowling at him now, frowning as she watched him crouch down before her and then offer her the uncooked fish. She eyed it warily at first as his laughter calmed and then he smiled at her.

Her gaze instantly softened, seeing the happy glint in his eyes, the light flush to his cheeks, his clearly fond smile. “Here-“ He chuckled softly. “You clearly prefer it this way.”

He outstretched his hand carrying the uncooked fish, sans head and she eyed it curiously for a beat before uncrossing her arms from in front of her chest and reaching out to tentatively accept the proffered fish. “Yes well-“ She huffed, sniffing lightly at the fish that was now covered in both his and Bucky’s scent. “It’s better this way.”

Steve couldn’t help chuckling softly again as he shook his head. “Perhaps for you. We cook most of our meat, though sushi is popular amongst the Team at home.”

Leah perked up a little at the mention of their Team. “Your… _family?_ ”

Steve nodded. “They eat sushi quite regularly. I don’t mind it so much…but it’s not my favourite.”

“What is…sushi?” She queried.

“Oh-“ Steve cleared his throat. “It’s raw fish rolled with rice and seaweed sometimes. Fish eggs too.”

Leah’s eyes widened considerably. “Delicious.”

Steve chuckled, smiling at her sweetly. “For some, I guess.”

She eyed the fish in her grasp and then curled her fingers more protectively around it, bringing it closer to her chest. “I like fish this way,” She explained and Steve nodded.

“That’s okay, everyone likes what they like. I don’t judge,” He explained, still smiling at her kindly, eyes crinkled at the corners and amusement clearly tugging at his mouth.

Leah seemed to think about this for a moment and then huffed, shaking her head. “You are very adorable, Steve,” She admitted, gaze flitting over his features.

Steve spluttered, clearly surprised not just by the compliment but by the fact that she was apparently _annoyed_ by the fact if the shaking of her head and the little quirk of her darkened lips was anything to go by. He shook his head, feeling rather incredulous, didn’t mean he could stop the light blush from spreading across his cheeks and down his throat.

And suddenly she was all serious again. Though, rather concerned. Apparently.

“Don’t _explode-_ “ She warned, one of her hands outstretched towards him as if that would somehow stop him from fucking _blushing._

Steve couldn’t help laughing at the mere suggestion, despite the warning in her voice and the concern on her prett- _terrifying-_ face. “I won’t-“ He assured, grinning like an idiot, though still blushing and feeling rather embarrassed by the whole thing. “Promise I won’t,” He agreed.

She huffed, clearly still uncertain but figured there wasn’t much else she could say to that. “Better not,” She threatened, eyes narrowing as she watched him try and stop the blush, rather unsuccessfully I might add. “You’re adorable and it would be very inconvenient to lose you because you went all pink.”

This time it was _Bucky_ who barked out a surprised laugh. A laugh that drew both Steve and Leah’s absolute attention as he tried to stifle it with a hand over his mouth, the metal one. Leah seemed immensely pleased by the reaction, watching as the metal plates in the soldier’s hand shifted as he covered his mouth, still smiling behind it. She opened her mouth to speak, but Steve interrupted.

“If you tell Bucky he’s adorable too, he might actually explode,” Steve warned, obviously joking Bucky knew, but that didn’t seem to be the case with Leah.

“Oh,” She murmured thoughtfully. “ _Well_ , it’s good thing he’s not adorable.”

Steve blinked, Bucky still laughing lightly behind his hand and watching the pair. “You don’t think Bucky’s adorable?” Steve questioned curiously, bright blue eyes filled with mirth as he turned his attention back to her.

She shook her head. “No,” She said quietly, Bucky’s light laughter having died down, hand slipping from his mouth as he tried to listen to what she was saying.

He was unprepared for the softly spoken words that followed. “He is much more dangerous than adorable,” She admitted, darkened gaze sweeping slowly over Bucky’s frame and wow, _okay_ …she looked fucking _starving._

No one spoke for a beat.

Then two.

“Right-“ Steve breathed after a moment, a little uneasy, a little curious and a whole lot incredulous; Bucky was _totally_ adorable. “Just not as adorable as me, then?” He tried to tease.

Leah grinned at him, her teeth sharp and glinting in the fading sunlight. “Not as adorable as you,” She agreed easily, gaze softening as she looked upon him with something akin to… _fondness?_

Steve was confused…so was Bucky, really. But who were they to question her? It wasn’t like she was _wrong._ Steve was adorable, of course he was and Bucky, well…he was definitely dangerous. But the way she’d sounded when saying that…as if it were… _desirable_ to be dangerous, was something else entirely. Bucky wasn’t going to think about it too much _aaand_ neither was Steve.

They’d count their blessings where they could.

.

The three ate their food in relative silence, Steve and Bucky doing their best not to stare- _much-_ while Leah practically tore apart her meal, licking the remnants of her dinner from her nails and before long darkness had begun to settle around them. The sounds of crickets, frogs and the soft buzzing of insects took over the quiet sounds of the fading day. The sound of the waves lapping at the shore and the soft trickle of water where Leah had slipped back to submerge her tail, the only music they’d been granted.

They lazed around as the sun set, Leah not speaking much as Steve and Bucky wondered aloud about how their Team was doing, wondering how long it would be before they were found. Steve seemed to be doing a lot better, but he was still tired, his body still healing. Bucky too, if he were being completely honest with himself.

Steve sighed softly after a while, leaning back on his hands as he turned his gaze skywards. It was so peaceful out here, calm and quiet and he still couldn’t believe how many stars he could see here. Back in the city he’d never been privy to nearly so many, even at the relative distance from the city the compound provided, there was still far too much light-pollution to be able to see so many.

“It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it, Bucky?” The blond murmured, head tipped back to watch the stars.

Bucky hummed softly, settling back on his hands to join his friend in looking up at the night sky. It really was gorgeous. Hundreds of thousands of stars twinkling in the dark, the faint outline of the tree canopy illuminated by the moon that was hidden at his back by the rock-face they were nestled beneath.

“It is,” Bucky admitted. “Quiet too.”

Steve chuckled softly, laying back a bit more until he was propped up on his elbows instead of his hands. “I know the compound can get a little noisy-“

“A _little_ noisy?” Bucky asked incredulously, but he sounded rather amused.

Steve grinned wryly. “Alright, a lot noisy,” He conceded. “But it’s home.”

Bucky sighed softly, but there was a hint of a smile on his face as he too leaned back on his elbows to look up into the night sky. “It is home,” He agreed quietly and that, _that_ was far more than Steve could have ever hoped for.

For Bucky to feel like the compound was a home…that was everything. It had taken months for him to get comfortable there and Steve was so grateful for the chance. It hadn’t been easy in the beginning and it sure wasn’t easy now, but they were getting there. The Team was incredibly supportive, they always had been and he wouldn’t trade his new family for the world. He thought maybe one day Bucky might agree.

There was a soft _plip_ behind them and they both turned in time to see Leah’s head dip beneath the water’s surface. They’d almost forgotten she was there, having been quietly lazing on shore for the last while. Steve sighed softly, looking down the length of his body towards the low flickering flames of their fire. Bucky’s gaze strayed over to his friend then, noting the way he seemed to curl in on himself a bit. For such a big man, Steve sure did know how to make himself look small. “She must be lonely,” His friend whispered after a moment.

Bucky’s brows furrowed as he nodded, he’d been thinking much the same thing. She must be, she’d said as much, anyway, but hearing Steve say it so plainly…it did tug on his heartstrings. “She must be,” He agreed, just as quiet.

“We could bring her home with us-“

“ _Steve-_ “ Bucky said helplessly, sitting up and cupping his face in his hands to stop the frustrated huff he wanted to let out.

“Well, we _could-_ “ Steve went on, sitting up properly himself now, casting a nervous glance to his friend and them back to the water.

“Oh my _God_ -I-I should have seen this coming, really. You and strays, for Christ sakes, Stevie-“

Steve looked rather flustered at Bucky’s reprimand, but he couldn’t help the little flutter at Bucky calling him _Stevie;_ his friend rarely called him that these days. “ _Well-_ “

“Don’t you _well_ me, pal-“ Bucky interrupted. “Don’t you think I don’t know about the cat you brought home last month only for Tony to beg you to give it up.”

Steve pouted, looking down at his hands as he folded them in his lap. “He was allergic, so he told me he could find a home for Mr. Whiskers-“

“Oh my _God-_ “ Bucky blurted, shaking his head as he shot his friend a look.

Steve bristled, shaking his own head. “I couldn’t leave the poor thing out in the _rain_ , Bucky. You didn’t see him, looking like a drowned rat that morning.”

He pouted something fierce as he looked to the brunet. “Poor little thing, cold and wet and hungry, Bucky. Tell me you wouldn’t have brought him home yourself.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “That’s not the point and you know it-“

Steve huffed indignantly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Don’t you huff at me, before that kitten there was that fat cat, the tabby with the short tail, Clint showed me pictures-“

“He did _not-_ “ Steve breathed, eyes wide and a blush staining his cheeks. “And before _that_ , there was that dog-“

“He was _lost_ , Bucky. I saw a poster so I brought him home just to make a phone call-“

“I _know_ , Steve, I do. _Really-_ “ Bucky laughed softly, but it was strained. “But my point stands, always trying to bring strays home. Leah is not a-a _stray-_ “

Steve scowled. “Don’t you think I know that, _dumbass?_ ”

Bucky snorted inelegantly, ignoring Steve’s scowl as it morphed into a pleased grin at the reaction he’d garnered. “Well, clearly you don’t, because you’re already thinking of ways to get her there!” He whisper-hissed.

Steve full on _glared_ at him. “You tellin’ me you _don’t_ want to bring her home? Buck, _come on._ She’s all alone out here, she’s got no family, she told us herself-“

“I _know_ , Stevie. _I know_ ,” He consoled, sighing deeply as he rubbed at his temples.

Steve fell quiet then, searching his friends features in an attempt to understand, get a read on him at the very least. Bucky huffed, shaking his head slightly as he leaned on his bent knees, gaze fixed firmly on the last flickering flames in the fire. They were quiet for a few minutes and then, “How would that even work, exactly?”

Steve positively _beamed_. “I knew you’d come ‘round-“

Bucky rolled his eyes, squeezing his legs a bit. “Shut up, Steve. Go to sleep or something, _Christ,_ you’re annoying.”

Steve cackled under his breath, the sound making Bucky roll his eyes even harder at his friend. “You seem to forget that I’m not the only one who brings home strays, _James Buchanan Barnes,_ ” Steve teased, watching as Bucky straightened a little and blinked as a memory washed over him.

“ _Huh-_ “ He said absently, a slight quirk to his lips that had Steve stifling the biggest smile he’d sported in ages.


	8. Chapter 8

“Do you want to swim?” Leah asked and it was suddenly very much reminiscent of the day before.

Steve took a deeper breath then and let himself just look at the siren. He’d come to put his feet in the water, butt still firmly planted in the sand, tac-pants rolled up to his knees as he pushed his toes into the sand, the warm water lapping at his ankles. But that was about as far as he’d gotten. Bucky was at his back, dozing near their stuff though Steve knew he was likely only half asleep at best, always keeping a watchful eye on his friend.

“Uh, I don’t think so…I was just, well, my feet sort of stink is all,” He chuckled. “I was going to wash up a bit in the water, but uh…guess that’s a little rude seeing as this is your home- _sorry-_ “

Leah smiled at him teasingly and shook her head as she bobbed a little closer towards shore. She’d been gone since last night and in the early light of morning, he’d wondered if she’d slept or simply gone in search of food. Though she hadn’t brought any fish with her this time.

“You can wash,” She murmured, gaze sweeping over his frame before she decided to alter her path and head towards the rocks they’d sat themselves on yesterday.

Steve watched as she silently made her way through the water, noting the flicker of her scales catching the low light beneath the water’s clear blue surface before she hauled herself up onto the rocks and laid down on her back.

Steve found himself swallowing hard as he watched her. All that glittering black, silver and grey, the strength of her tail as she let it hang over the rocks, partially hidden beneath the surface of the water. She had more than just the two fins at the end of her tail, another he’d caught sight of cropping up from about half way down her tail on her backside. It was just as transparent as the other and he thought it looked similar to spiders silk with the way it caught the light.

He’d had the strongest urge to draw her right then, admiring such a beau- _terrifying-_ creature and wanting to commit her to paper or better yet, canvas. He let himself glance up the length of her body, attempting to ignore the fact that she was for all intents and purposes, _naked_ as she reclined upon the rocks. Her eyes were closed, her dark wet hair splayed out against the rock, catching the morning light along with the rest of her; her scales practically glittering with fresh water droplets.

She seemed to be content to doze, so he figured he could do as she said and wash up. He didn’t exactly smell rank, but he didn’t exactly smell pretty, either. He huffed lightly tom himself and decided he’d better just wash up while he could see where she was, not wanting to risk getting in the water when she was out of their sight. She may not have been a threat to them so far, but that didn’t mean he wanted to let his guard down completely when she was around nor out of his sight.

After another moments thought, he stripped his shirt off over his head and shifted to get up onto his knees. The last couple of days had been warm, so he figured today would be no different. He might as well clean his clothes while he was at it, no sense putting dirty ones back on after he was reasonably clean. So, he quietly stripped out of his uniform pants and tank, leaving himself in only his black briefs. He tried not to wonder if Leah was watching him as he stepped into the water a little.

He really didn’t enjoy the idea of submerging himself in the stuff, he hated baths most days unless they were scorching hot, so this was certainly less than desirable. He took a deeper breath as he waded in up to his thighs and bent to wash himself as best he could, leaving his clothes for now.

Bucky heard the light splashing of water and cracked an eye open curiously to find Steve standing a ways into the water washing up his arms and the rest of him. Bucky pushed himself up onto his elbows, about to call out to his friend to get out of the water, thinking him to be an idiot, when he came up short upon noticing Leah sprawled out on the rocks, _basking_ in the morning sunshine.

He blinked, settling back onto his elbows a bit more as he looked at her. He was certain she was listening to Steve in the water, but gave no outward inclination that she was paying any attention to him…either of them, really. He glanced to where Steve was still washing up, moving a little deeper into the water, though not past his waistline, he noted. He knew Steve wasn’t exactly a fan of swimming, didn’t care for water much after nose diving a plane into the stuff what felt like eons ago now.

He was proud his friend was at least making an attempt to face his fear of the wet stuff. He shifted onto his side, casting a sweeping glance back to Leah and then back across the pool of water, keeping an eye open for anything unusual.

But there was nothing out of the ordinary and when he saw Steve reach for his clothes, no doubt with the intent to wash them too, he relaxed a bit. Leah was giving him space, but that didn’t mean the blond wasn’t on his guard. He was just being paranoid really. He knew that.

He huffed a little at himself and glanced back over to Leah, only to find the siren had moved onto her side, propping herself up with a hand beneath her chin and was watching him silently. Not Steve, _him._ He swallowed hard and forced himself up into a sitting position now that he’d been caught staring. He purposely scuffed his shoe to make a bit of noise and found Steve turning to look at him over his shoulder.

“Hey, Buck,” The blond greeted. “Thought I’d wash up a bit.”

Bucky hummed, watching for a beat as Steve went back to washing his clothes in the water, gaze then sweeping over to Leah and finding her dark eyes settled upon Steve, just… _watching_. It unnerved Bucky, how eerily still she was as her gaze swept over Steve’s torso, probably didn’t help that he was dripping water now as he’d managed to wet his hair too.

Speaking of hair, he grimaced and ran a hand through his longer locks. It didn’t exactly feel pleasant to the touch, maybe he should bathe too. Bucky couldn’t help but wonder at the way she was looking at his friend, however. She did look rather curious. “Have you met…other humans before?” He asked, gaze trained on Leah as she looked turned those obsidian orbs back on him.

He could see Steve turn to look at him, curious about the question, certainly, but he ignored him for the moment. Leah was watching him intently now, clearly thinking about the question. “I have met many humans,” She admitted, gaze flickering towards Steve as he turned to look at her.

“Men? Women?” Bucky queried, shifting into a more comfortable seated position.

She hummed quietly at the question, letting her gaze travel over Steve’s frame. “Both,” She agreed. “Most have…moved on.”

Brow furrowing, Bucky went to ask about that, but then she shrugged, the movement smooth, near liquid as she tossed her hair lightly over her shoulder. Bucky couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t as black as they thought it to be now that it had started to dry, but instead it was a deep grey with lighter portions near the ends.

“They died, grew old or…simply disappeared,” She murmured, her gaze turning far away and both men decided they didn’t much care for it.

“I’m sorry-“ Steve consoled, voice having grown quiet.

If anyone knew what it was like to lose someone…Steve would be the most understanding, Bucky too. Leah’s gaze flickered towards the blond and she shrugged again. “It’s been a long time since I’ve met more humans. You are first I have seen in many, many years,” She admitted, just as quiet.

“Oh-“ Steve breathed, not really sure what to say to that exactly.

“You are more interesting than most,” She went on after a moment, pushing herself up so that she was leaning back on the palms of her hands.

Bucky couldn’t help notice how she looked Steve up and down almost… _appreciatively._ Bucky tried not to smirk. He wasn’t exactly blind after all, Steve was a gorgeous beefcake nowadays, of course she was admiring him. Not like Bucky hadn’t done so for ages, anyway.

Steve’s cheeks pinked a little at the way she looked him over and though her eyes narrowed when she no doubt noticed, she didn’t tell him not to explode this time. Steve turned his attention back to washing his clothing, though he kept her within his sights too.

“Well, I’m certain you’re the most interesting being we’ve ever come across. Isn’t that right, Buck?” Steve asked, glancing over his shoulder at his friend.

Bucky hummed in agreement. She was certainly interesting. Unusual, but very much interesting.

“There is no one like me,” She explained, her tone brooking no room for argument.

Bucky’s lips quirked in a half-smirk, Steve didn’t bother stifling his smile. “I have no doubt about that,” Steve agreed easily, gathering up his now wet clothes as he left the water.

Bucky watched as he wrung them out and laid them out over the rocks to dry in the sunshine and thought maybe he should do the same. He was starting to feel a little grimy in his tac pants and undershirt, but he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to expose more of his body than necessary right now. He’d been getting better at exposing the scars to watchful eyes, but it was still difficult for him. He knew the worst he’d get from Steve would be the sad puppy-dog eyes, which, granted, were pretty terrible, but Leah was a wild card.

She might do nothing, barely glance at him or…

Or _what?_

Bucky grimaced slightly to himself, glancing down at his hands now settled in his lap. One metal, one of flesh and blood. He inhaled slowly and cast his gaze across the sand to where Leah was watching Steve curiously as the blond settled himself down at the edge of the rock cluster she was laid out upon.

“No one like you,” He murmured absently. “You ever going to tell us what you are exactly? You’ve said you’re a siren…right now. But…that doesn’t exactly clarify things for us,” Steve admitted.

Leah rolled her eyes, huffing lightly. “I already told you.”

Steve’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You did?”

Leah huffed again, clearly annoyed. “I am _old._ ”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to roll his eyes, shaking his head as he moved to get up, deciding he’d take the risk and wash up too. They were clearly getting no where in their questioning. “No offence, Leah. But you don’t _look_ old. Not to us and let me tell you, _we’re_ old,” Bucky interrupted, striding towards the water’s edge.

Steve glanced at him as he came closer and Bucky ignored him in favour of kicking off his boots and unbuckling his belt. Leah made a curious sort of sound, but she was watching Bucky closely. “You are gravely mistaken,” She sighed, watching as Bucky slipped his belt from their loops and set it aside.

He stepped out of his pants a moment later and set them down where he’d be able to reach them once in the water. Steve shrugged as he pulled his gaze away from his friend and focused back on Leah. “ _Technically_ , we’re almost 100 years old,” He offered.

Bucky shook his head. It was certainly something he’d been trying to wrap his head around for the last few years. “ _So young!_ ” Leah practically squeaked, startling them both so badly they were embarrassed at their own flinches.

“What?” Steve stated flatly, even Bucky had stilled to listen to her.

“You are just _babes_ ,” She gushed. “Little things, truly.”

Bucky blinked, and muttered, “I’m sorry… _babes?_ ” As the same time Steve whispered, “I’m not _little_.”

They both shared a look with one another before Steve rolled his eyes. “She means, _babies_ , Buck,” Steve sighed, shaking his head fondly.

Bucky scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, now clad in only his briefs and tank top. “I know that, _Steven._ I’m confused as to how she thinks 100 year old _men_ could be _babies_ -“

Leah frowned at his outburst, shaking her head slowly. “But you _are_ ,” She went on. “I have lived many times that, so I would know.”

“You-“ Steve started, unable to find the right words, clearly.

“Just how old are you?” Bucky questioned, brows furrowed as he regarded the creature lying before them.

Leah huffed, casting her gaze out across the water as she shrugged. “Older than you,” She stated petulantly. “Older than any _man_ , certainly.”

Bucky blinked, confused and more than a little baffled at what he’d just heard. “Okay…so, you’re…”

“ _Old-_ “ She finished, her voice carrying in a terribly long-suffering sigh.

Bucky barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes- _barely-_

“ _Right_ ,” Steve agreed, clearly just as baffled as Bucky.

Bucky huffed, not really knowing what else to do with that sort of information. He looked down at himself and uncrossed his arms, feeling a bit ridiculous just standing there in his under things. He rolled his eyes at himself and gripped the hem of his tank before he shook his head and decided _to hell with it_ and pulled it up and over his head.

The pair were blissfully quiet as Bucky divested himself of his tank and set it atop his pants to wash shortly. He inhaled deeply as he strode into the water, forgoing the slow path of easing himself into it and instead walked until his chest was submerged beneath the lightly lapping warmth.

He started just lightly scrubbing down his limps, conscious of the fact that he could feel two sets of eyes on him, though Leah’s were a little more worrisome. He was just glad he was able to keep his shoulders submerged so that he didn’t have to see Steve’s sad puppy-dog eyes. They really were terrible. He tried not to snort in amusement at the thought as he ducked his head back beneath the water and then decided to say _screw it_ and ducked his whole head beneath the water.

His hair had been a bit of a disaster, having lost his hair tie sometime before he’d even gotten to that rooftop, he really wasn’t all that surprised. He really needed to remember to keep more on his person than just one when they got back. He scrubbed his hair under the water for a moment before breaching the surface again. He slicked his hair back from his face and took in a deeper breath of the fresh morning air. It was getting humid quickly, however, but the water really was rather refreshing.

He spent a few extra minutes washing up before going back to retrieve his clothes. With his pants and tank in hand, he waded back out to give them a perfunctory scrub beneath the lightly lapping waves. He couldn’t help glancing over to where Leah and Steve were sitting, the blond’s bright blue eyes tracing along the length of her tail as it shifted with every breath she took, tracing a path from her hip to her throat and clearly marvelling at the different tones reflecting in the sunlight.

Leah’s dark eyes were looking right back at Bucky and he swallowed under their heady weight. She looked thoughtful as she observed him, clearly knowing Steve was busy looking at her but paying him no mind just then. He was about to turn and head back to shore, to lay out his wet clothes to dry, when she spoke up.

“Perhaps…I can show you what that means,” Leah murmured, pushing herself until she was slowly slipping into the water again and both men had to take a second or three to catch up to where her thoughts had led her.

Bucky stilled in the water, now very much on his guard seeing as he was currently wearing nothing but a pair of black briefs, not a single weapon- _well_ -he had the arm, he supposed-on his person. “What it means to be old?” Steve questioned, shifting in his spot on the rocks to better observe her as she slipped into the warm water.

She hummed, the sound taking on a very eerie quality as she slipped further into the blue, only her shoulders and head staying above its surface. “I cannot show you…exactly, but maybe…maybe you will understand better-“ She explained. “That there is no one like me.”

Bucky watched her, cautiously moving himself to face her better as she seemed to float closer towards him. Bucky could see her body pretty clearly beneath the water, even at the relative distance she kept and he knew she’d pose quite the threat if she were to attack him. He just had to hope that she wouldn’t take advantage.

Steve was quiet as he watched her move so fluidly through the water, but there was a note of concern in his eyes. She really was beautiful, though, even if she was somehow terribly terrifying at the same time. He inwardly grimaced at the thought.

“How are you going to do that exactly?” Bucky questioned, watching warily as she shifted, her tail briefly breaching the surface as she moved onto her back and began to glide through the water to the much deeper, _darker_ part of the pool farther away from him.

“I will change for you,” She explained-while not really explaining anything-and neither really had much time to comprehend what that meant before she was disappearing beneath the surface of the water, body hidden by the depths of the pool.

Bucky stilled.

“Bucky…” Steve said warily.

“Yeah-“ Bucky whispered, already nervous about the situation he’d found himself in.

He did not want to be in the water with her when they didn’t exactly know what she was, let alone what she might be capable of. They didn’t exactly know if she was friend or foe at this point either.

He swallowed hard, slowly taking a step backwards, his toes digging into the soft sand as he attempted to flee the water without actually, you know, _fleeing._

He didn’t get more than a step before there was a subtle ripple that spread from the far side of the pool. Bucky inhaled sharply as he felt a similar ripple against his body beneath the water, like a shockwave of sorts. He really wanted to get out now, thank you very much.

“ _Bucky-_ “ Steve suddenly hissed and the brunet’s eyes snapped up in time to see a fucking _fin_ breach the surface a ways out.

“Oh _fuck-_ “ Bucky snapped and then it was a less than elegant scramble to get the hell out of the water.

Steve was shouting something but Bucky didn’t hear it, too busy flailing as he attempted to dive towards the shore, clothes still clutched in his metal grip. He wasn’t even that far out! But when you were in a hurry because you thought there might be a fucking _shark,_ it sure as shit felt a lot farther than it was.

Bucky had barely managed to make it to the edge of the shoreline before he flung himself bodily up onto the sand, heaving in a lungful of air as he sprawled out on his back, completely out of the water. What he hadn’t been prepared for, however, was the sudden appearance of that eerily grey fin still slicing through the waves towards him at an alarming speed.

Bucky’s eyes widened but he didn’t- _he couldn’t_ -

Steve was suddenly on him, hands sliding beneath Bucky’s armpits and hauling him back even further and then just about the most unthinkable thing happened. The _shark_ burst out of the water and their breaths left them in a collective rush as _Leah_ breached the surface, her upper body landing in the sand as she twisted and effectively beached herself on her side in front of them.

Bucky’s eyes were so goddamn wide because they seriously couldn’t believe what they were seeing right now. Because-because Leah wasn’t a _siren_ anymore, she was a fucking _shark_. A goddamn _big one._

Steve inhaled sharply, practically choking on his breath, he stumbled and fell back onto the sand, Bucky landing sprawled carelessly in his lap as they both stared in shock at the creature before them. Leah was grinning and it was eerily reminiscent of a sharks smile…if they could smile; all teeth, that is.

She was breathing quickly, her chest heaving as she shifted in the sand, her large body impeding her from doing much at all on land. She was staring at them with the blackest eyes they’d ever seen. She blinked and they both shuddered hard as the double lids slid over one another as she watched them, a gleeful glint in those dark depths.

Bucky was shaking his head, just…unable to properly comprehend what he was seeing. Her dark scales were no longer there, instead they were replaced with that grey smooth sharkskin speckled with white along the middle of her face and down her throat. The white only seemed to spread down over her breasts and as she shifted, he was certain her belly would be white too.

Her upper body was still nearly the same size it had been before, only her chest looked much flatter, slimmer, her curves not quite so pronounced. Bucky was shaking his head before he could help himself.

“Holy _fuck_ -“ Steve breathed, eyes wide and disbelieving, tone awed; Bucky didn’t exactly disagree.

Leah made a sort of _growling_ noise and they both shuddered hard at the unnatural sound that seemed to filter into their very being and settle in their bones. “See?” She snapped, tone as sharp as her teeth. “I change because-“

“There’s no one like you-“ Bucky breathed, interrupting her, eyes wide and clearly shocked, maybe even a bit frightened.

“Because you’re _old_ -“ Steve added, softer, tone just as shocked and maybe just a week bit frightened.

Leah looked rather pleased at that-for a moment-having settled back into the sand as she watched them with those dark dead-eyes. It made the boys incredibly uneasy and she frowned a little as she caught a proper look at them, nose tipping up to scent the air a little. _God,_ but even her _face_ looked narrowed like a shark’s muzzle.

“I-I’m sorry,” She whispered, her entire demeanour suddenly shifting.

“ _Well_ , that was embarrassing,” Bucky cut in before she could say more.

Leah blinked, both sets of lids again and Bucky grimaced, feeling Steve shudder rather oddly at his back. _Right_ , he sort of _was_ still sprawled back against his friends chest, both clad in only their briefs and nothing else. “We must be a sight-“ Bucky muttered, rolling out of his friends grasp to push himself up from the sand.

Steve huffed in agreement but remained where he sat looking a little harried and winded. _Christ_ , he must have practically _thrown_ himself across the sand just to get to Bucky fast enough. Bucky shook his head at the thought. “I thought I was dinner-“ Bucky blurted, filter apparently gone for the moment.

He glanced down at his friend and Steve nodded slowly, clearly having thought the same thing.

“I wouldn’t have _eaten_ you-“ Leah breathed, sounding shocked to have heard such a notion.

To be fair…

Bucky looked to her incredulously. “You _weren’t_ about to have me for a snack?” He asked in obvious disbelief.

Leah’s eyes widened, comically round even in their darkness. “I would _not have_ ** _eaten you_** ,” She breathed. “I pulled you from the water days ago so that you _wouldn’t_ be eaten,” She admitted petulantly, looking a touch hurt by the notion.

Bucky froze. “You…” He trailed off, uncertain.

Steve swallowed hard. “I forgot to mention that, Buck.”

Bucky looked down at his friend as Steve winced a little. “When you caught me talking to her that first time? She-she told me she pulled us from the water. She saved us from drowning.”

Bucky blinked, rather shocked by the idea, but he recovered quickly, turning his attention back to Leah as she seemed to curl in on herself a little as the new information was received. Bucky shook his head, still trying to wrap his mind around everything as he took a careful step towards where Leah was still laid out in the sand.

Half female- _tentatively-_ and half shark. A great white, if Bucky wasn’t mistaken. He inwardly shook himself and crouched down in front of her a bit, only about an arms length apart. “Thank you,” He breathed, voice barely above that of a whisper but laced with appreciation, gratefulness.

Leah looked up at him through absurdly long lashes, her obsidian orbs wide and searching as she gazed up at him. “I did not wish you to be eaten,” She whispered, pausing to carefully consider her next words. “And I…would not have eaten you-I _won’t_ ,” She amended. “I would not eat friend.”

Bucky swallowed hard, surprised at the sudden offer of friendship. “Friend, huh?” He murmured, watching as she nodded slightly before she was shifting and…offering her belly to him?

 _Definitely a great white._ He thought absently.

Aside from that, Bucky was pretty sure this was the single most vulnerable thing an…animal-and he’s using that term lightly here-could do, offering their most vulnerable spots up to someone to show that they…trust them.

Bucky swallowed hard. Trust was…not something he took lightly, lord knows he struggled with his own trust issues and has for pretty well forever. Trusting someone opened yourself up to a world of pain if that trust was ever broken. He’d once thought trusting _anyone_ was just about the stupidest fucking thing he could do.

He also supposes he’s come a long way from that way of thinking now that he has an entire family of which he trusts, even if he’s never admitted it _out loud_ to any of them. He’s pretty sure they know. Ugh, _feelings_.

He mentally shook himself and instead focused on the way Leah was looking up at him with a semi-imploring look on her face. He wanted to trust her. _Hell_ , if she’d saved them, he owed her at least friendship status for that much.

“I suppose friends would be a good starting place,” He agreed easily, a hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.

Leah smiled at him then and even if it was more teeth than he would have liked-did she somehow sprout _more?-_ he thought it was sweet in her own odd way.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you so badly… _well,_ I _wanted_ to frighten you but I didn’t want to eat you, not really-“ She went on, turning back onto her belly as she looked up at him.

That teasing glint was back in her eyes.

Bucky tried not to roll his in response.

“ _Not really?_ ” He repeated, and rather dubiously at that.

Steve snickered behind him and Bucky couldn’t help casting a small smirk in his direction before turning his attention back to Leah. She was trailing a hand gently in the sand, one of her long nails tracing patterns therein. She huffed as if inconvenienced. “Alright…only a _little_ , but I _wouldn’t-_ “

Bucky shook his head, absolutely enamoured by the response, even if she was some very strange creature that probably more than wanted to eat him a little, she’d apparently gone ahead and called a truce when she decided to save them instead of eat them. He’d call that a win any day.

“Alright, _friend_. You promise not to eat Steve or I and you’ll have yourself two new friends. How about that?” He offered.

Leah seemed to take a moment to think about this, gaze flickering over Bucky’s shoulder to settle on Steve and Bucky knew that the blond was probably smiling that golden-retriever would-melt-butter smile in hopes of winning her over before returning her gaze back to him. “I promise not to eat you or Steve and be your friend instead,” She agreed.

Bucky nodded, still smiling gently at her all the while. “Sounds good to me,” He agreed, glancing over at Steve. “How about you, Stevie?”

“Sounds good to me too, Buck,” His friend agreed. “Just maybe don’t try so hard to frighten us, I tend to scare easy,” He teased.

Bucky barked out a bit of a laugh. “And it’s more than difficult to scare me and let me tell you, I haven’t been nearly that terrified of anything in _decades._ ”

Leah looked… _damnit_ , right _pleased_ with herself _._

“You were rather fun to scare,” She admitted, smirking up at him, one of her sharp teeth catching on the edge of her lip and making Bucky rethink his entire life up until that point; wondering how in the hell he’d arrived here.

“Haha-“ He deadpanned, rolling his eyes, but they both saw that he was struggling to withhold a stupid smile, so he supposed there was that.

Not to mention he was pretty sure she and Steve were sharing a _look_ which was definitely never good. Steve teaming up with _anyone_ never led to good things. The guy was a snarky little shit on a good day, for crying out loud.

Leah rolled herself back into the water a short while later letting them know she was going to catch some fish for them, so when she returned a couple of hours later to find both men dressed once more and foraging for more fruit, she made sure that they saw she’d changed back into her siren form. Neither commented, both simply happy she’d come back at all.

Whatever she was, they were pleased to have met her and happy to have her as their new friend. Somehow, they were certain she was pleased to have met them too.


	9. Chapter 9

“It’s been four days, Bucky,” Steve murmured, voice barely above a whisper in the fading light of what had been yet another hot afternoon.

Bucky sighed, leaning back against the palm tree he’d been dozing against as he turned his attention to his friend. Leah had disappeared a little while ago. She tended to come and go as she pleased and neither felt it their place to ask where she went off to. Steve had drawn attention to the fact that Bucky had been hurt and keeping it from him after the whole incident with Leah-Shark the day before-as they’d later coined it-when the blond had seen the still healing cut on the brunet’s thigh.

It was all but closed now, hadn’t festered much, but it was a bit itchy and still rather pink and definitely didn’t hurt. But, upon seeing it and his discoloured ribs-not that Steve wasn’t sporting some pretty unpleasant bruises himself-he’d made Bucky sit tight and insist _he_ be the one to go looking for food that afternoon. When Steve had come back, he’d been quiet and withdrawn and Bucky worried over him instantly.

When Steve had finally mumbled, “It’s-there’s just water, Buck. There’s-there’s really nothin’ out there-“ Bucky finally got the picture.

Steve was scared and Bucky understood.

They’d sat quietly together for the rest of the day and even today they’d found themselves a little more reserved than usual. Too busy wrapped up in their own thoughts.

“It has,” Bucky agreed quietly. “But, we have food and water and somewhat pleasant company,” He teased. “So I think we’re doing alright.”

Steve huffed, but didn’t offer more than that. Didn’t ask the burning question of when he thought they might be found. They weren’t exactly helpless out here, but they were far from in their element. They were quiet for a time, both just listening to the sounds of water lapping at the shore a good ten feet away, the more distant sounds of the much larger waves hitting the beach and all the wildlife the little island oasis had to offer.

“How are we going to convince Tony to let us bring her back with us?” Steve queried, sounding far too genuine about his concern.

Bucky blinked and then snorted, looking over at his friend. Steve was on his back, hands resting idly on his chest as he looked up at the sky, all pinks and purples, oranges too. “I think the better question is how do we ask _Leah_ if she even wants to come back with us.”

Steve hummed. It was a fair point.

“Do you think she would want to?” Steve murmured, keeping his voice low.

Bucky thought about it. Would she want to? Come live in a much smaller pool? Here she had the ocean and he had no doubt that Tony would probably try and build her something, but how could you compare a man made pool to an open ocean teaming with wildlife and no walls? He shook his head. “I don’t know that she would.”

Steve frowned a little as he thought about probably the same things. “But she’s lonely out here, all by herself.”

“She is,” Bucky agreed quietly. “But I don’t know how she would benefit by living in a pool at the compound, do you? Even if we were to visit her often, even if our friends were to get along with her, could you see her happy, cooped up in a pool, _trapped_ in one?”

Steve’s face scrunched up as he shook his head, even as he was warmed by Bucky saying _our friends_ , it didn’t deter from what they were actually talking about. “It’d be like she was a pet. I wouldn’t want that for her at all,” He quickly agreed.

Bucky nodded shortly. “Me either…and besides, Tony hates magic and I’m pretty sure that was some old as shit stuff we saw yesterday. Think he’d let that just slip under his roof?”

Steve huffed a soft laugh, rolling his eyes and if his stare turned a little fond, who was Bucky to judge? Maybe Bucky was a little fond of Stark too, so sue him.

“Guess you’ve got a point there, Buck.”

Bucky hummed, letting his eyes drift shut as they continued to laze about. Eventually they grew quiet again for a time, both coming to terms with the fact that when they were found, they’d more than likely have to say good bye to Leah. Maybe they could visit her here instead. Bucky wondered if she’d like that, Steve did too.

.

Dusk had just started to settle, the sky taking on its usual shades of blue and grey before the inevitable fade to black, when there was the sudden murmur of voices.

Steve’s head whipped to his right, towards where he thought the voices were coming from and before he could even bring himself to move, Bucky was crouched down beside him, knife clutched in his grasp as they listened for the voices again.

“Well, _I_ don’t know where they are! This wasn’t my doing, _Stephen!_ You’re the one that _flung_ them here, so you tell me!”

Bucky and Steve both visibly relaxed. Of course Tony _and_ Strange would be the ones to find them.“Fuckin’ finally,” Bucky muttered, sheathing his knife and getting up from his defensive position.

Steve huffed but quickly pulled himself up as well upon hearing Tony’s less than happy tirade. They could hear the sounds of machinery, definitely Tony’s suit. At least he wasn’t stupid enough to go portal-hopping with Strange out of the suit or Steve would probably have to give him an earful. There was also the unmistakable sound of Strange sighing, much too deeply. Clearly they’d been at this for a while.

“Over here!” Steve called, already striding towards the sound of their voices, Bucky in tow.

There was silence for a split-second and then, “ _Oh thank God!_ ”

Bucky tried not to roll his eyes as they finally came within sight of Tony, clad in his trademark red and gold Iron Man armour, Dr. Strange standing a couple of feet away looking just as tired and harried as Tony sounded. Bucky figured being stuck with Tony probably did that to you after a while. He’d been lucky not to have to spend too much alone time with the genius, he wasn’t sure he could handle his constant chattering and general annoying-self for more than a couple of hours at most.

Tony didn’t have the helmet on, dark hair wild and mussed, heavy bags under his eyes and all and Bucky felt a little bad about that as he’d probably been working tirelessly to find them. Probably hadn’t slept or eaten much either. The rest of the suit looked fine though, maybe just a couple of scuffs and such thanks to their battle in New York, so that was good news at least.Tony was instantly closing the short distance between the groups and…okay, so, Bucky was a little surprised when Tony and Steve met for a less than gentle hug, Tony’s chin settling atop the blond’s shoulder as he breathed in deeply, clearly relieved to have found them. They squeezed each other so tight, both Bucky and Strange swore they could hear metal creaking under the strain. Just because he was surprised by the touching reunion, he didn’t let them see it when they broke apart, Tony giving Steve an awkward pat on the back as he looked over to where Bucky stood and nodded. Bucky nodded back.

“What took you so long?” Bucky gruffed, only a little annoyed it’d actually taken them so long as he walked up to the pair to stand next to Steve.

Stephen huffed lightly behind Tony, folding his arms over his chest and yep, _this should be good._ “Good to see you too, Buckaroo. Sorry about the delay, we would have been here a lot fucking sooner if _someone_ hadn’t fucked up a _spell_ and sent you two all the way to fuckin’ _Fiji-_ “

“ _Technically,_ this isn’t Fiji, Stark-“

“No, you’re right. It isn’t. This is a little island a few thousand miles _away_ from Fiji that doesn’t show up on any goddamn _map_ , so we’ve been running around in goddamn _circles_ trying to get a read on you and _lo’ and behold_ -“ Tony gestured grandly to the island around them. “We’ve found you.”

Bucky frowned a little, curious. So the island wasn’t on any map, odd. But not unheard of.

“How’d you do that exactly?” Steve questioned, a lightly teasing lilt to his voice and really, Bucky should have seen it coming a mile away with how manic Tony was acting, how strung out and way too goddamn exhausted for his own good.

“Ready for it-“ Tony blew out a slow breath and then did the equivalent of _jazz hands_ , “ _magic-_ “

Steve and Bucky shared a long, slow look with one another…and then both men burst out laughing. Tony wouldn’t go so far as to say he was _shocked_ by Bucky’s laughter, but he was damn sure surprised. Bucky was always so reserved around him and not just him, really, the whole Team. He huffed or grunted more often than not, barely showing any amusement about well, _anything_ , but this was full on laughter and it made Tony giddy with the knowledge that maybe he was doing a lot better than he’d originally thought thanks to this impromptu vacation.

Okay, so Strange could take a bit of a win on this one. If their time away from everyone allowed the pair to bond a bit, Tony didn’t see how that was hurting anyone. It was good for Barnes, good for Steve too, apparently. Especially if the happy smile Steve suddenly turned on his friend was anything to go by. _Huh_ , okay, so not a total screw-up for Strange. Good to know.

“I’m glad you both find this amusing,” Tony sighed, but there was a hint of a smile there. “But I would really like to get home and sleep now, thank you.”

“Agreed,” Strange muttered. “And I am sorry for the mixup. I was attempting to transport you to a safe distance as well as accomplish ten other things at the same time, so I’m sure you see my error.”

Steve chuckled softly, waving him off. “It’s really okay, Doctor. I’m just glad we ended up in one piece, even if we were a little banged up-“

“What? What’s wrong? Where are you hurt?” Tony interrupted, all concern now as he started blatantly looking over Steve for visible injuries.

Bucky managed not to roll his eyes, though Steve didn’t manage so well. “He got hit in the head with something during the fall, bit of a concussion, couple of busted ribs, speaking of which-“ Bucky huffed, ignoring Steve’s muttering of _I’m fine now, would you shut it_. “I forgot to be mad at you, you know that? We wouldn’t even had to have fallen if you hadn’t _jumped_ _me-_ “

“Hang on a second, Buck. If I recall correctly, _you_ were the one putting yourself in danger back on that rooftop. Trying to dismantle that _bomb_ all on your lonesome-“

Tony grimaced as Bucky started to defend himself, casting a sidelong glance at Strange as he’d walked over a bit closer. Strange was not amused, his well of endless patience drying up exponentially so. “If you children will let me interrupt,” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in his frustration. “The bomb was cast elsewhere, hence my distraction.”

“Oh good,” Steve sighed, clearly relieved. “No casualties?”

“No civilian casualties, no,” Stephen offered. “Just minor injuries, a bit of property damage-“

“Which I’m taking care of-“ Tony reassured, head bobbing along eagerly even as he continued to look Steve over for any visible injuries.

Bucky blew out a slow breath, not having realized that he’d been a little more upset about the whole thing than he maybe realized. He was still mad at Steve for fucking up his plan, but figured he couldn’t stay mad at him forever. Not when they were both okay and clearly so was everyone else.

“That’s good,” Steve agreed, shoulders slumping in his relief but distracted at least from tearing into Bucky for the time being.

“It is, so if you’re both ready to go, we’d very much like to go home and get some sleep,” Stephen sighed, now rubbing his eyes tiredly, already turning around and walking back the way they’d come. “I’ll just leave this here,” He told them, gesturing and opening up a portal that looked into what Steve thought was the communal living room back at the compound before opening up a second portal that would probably take him to his own home. “It’ll close once you’re all through.”

And just like that, Stephen disappeared through his own portal, the gap in space closing near instantly behind him. Tony blew out a slow breath, turning his attention back to his Teammates. “I still hate magic.”

Steve huffed in amusement but his brows were drawn together in concern and Tony noticed. “What’s wrong?”

Steve glanced to Bucky nervously, only to find the brunet looking over his shoulder at the pool of too-still water, no sign of Leah. “We’re really glad you found us, Tony,” Steve admitted. “But we can’t leave yet.”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean you can’t leave yet?” Tony sputtered, obviously confused.

Steve winced a little and Bucky figured he could help him out a bit. “We found someone here, or…they found us,” Bucky admitted, attention back on Tony. “Pulled us out of the water-“  
“Saved us, really,” Steve breathed. “We were really lucky she was here.”

“ _She?_ ” Tony asked, eyes wide and clearly surprised that they’d stumbled upon anyone all the way out here.

“Yeah, uh, her name’s Leah, she’s-“ Bucky started and then shook his head as he huffed softly under his breath, unable to finish that sentence.

There were a thousand ways he could finish that sentence and he’d still never get it quite right. Steve seemed to catch on and huffed a soft laugh. “She’s something else,” The blond admitted.

“Well, where is she? I’d at least like to say hello and thank her for dragging your sorry asses out of the water- _shit_ -you guys could have _drowned,_ ” Tony seemed to realize all at once, eyes wide and incredulous as he looked between the pair of men.

Steve sighed softly, looking to Bucky for help. “We don’t actually know where she’s gone or when she might be back. She tends to come and go as she pleases but we can’t leave without saying good bye, i-it wouldn’t be right,” Bucky explained, glancing down at the sand covered floor, bits of broken shells and brush scattered at his feet and for the first time in a very long while, looking nervous and shy.

“Okay,” Tony said slowly, clearly picking up on the fact that this was rather important to him. “We’ll wait for her to come back then,” He nodded decisively, crossing his iron-clad arms in front of his chest, the sound of clinching metal loud in the relative quiet of their little piece of paradise.

Steve grimaced, but nodded, as did Bucky. “So, does she live around here? The island is a little small, she couldn’t have gone far. I could probably fly over and find her-“

“You won’t-“ Bucky said gruffly, shaking his head.

“She’s uh-she’s not _on_ the island, exactly,” Steve was wincing even as he said it.

They both knew they were going to be called crazy the second they managed to explain themselves and really, wouldn’t be the first time, but it was still irritating as shit. Bucky really hated being called crazy. So, Bucky sucked it up and blurted, “She’s a siren, sort of-like a mermaid-“

“But definitely _not_ a mermaid-“ Steve interrupted, Bucky nodding eagerly alongside him.

Tony stilled, his previously curious expression turning graver by the second. “Are you sure you _both_ didn’t hit your head on something?” He asked worriedly.

Steve rolled his eyes but Bucky just plain frowned. “We didn’t hit our heads, Sta- _Tony_ -“ Bucky sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying not to scowl. “She’s actually a siren or-or-“

“ _Something-_ “ Steve offered, smiling a little at his friend.

Bucky just huffed, turning his attention back to Tony, who looked for all the world like he was having an aneurism. “I’m sorry, I still don’t think I heard you right,” Tony said flatly, observing the pair with a disbelieving air about him. “Did you say, _siren,_ as in, like…a mermaid on crack?”

“Oh my _God-_ “ Steve muttered, barely resisting the urge to scrub a hand over his face.

Bucky resisted no such urge, scrubbing a harsh metal hand over his suddenly heated cheeks. At least Tony hadn’t called them cra-

“Oh, _I’m sorry_ , but do you have any idea how bat-shit _crazy_ you sound right now?” Tony quipped, uncrossing his arms and putting his hands on his hips, clearly impatient and very much annoyed.

Bucky actually hung his head and Steve stepped closer to his friend, placing a gentle-very careful-hand on Bucky’s flesh and blood shoulder in a show of support. Bucky really disliked being called crazy, not when he was in his right mind, finally.

“ _Hey-_ “ Steve admonished, tone sharp.

When Bucky finally pulled his head up, he found Tony looking a little sheepish, but guarded. “It’s fine, Steve. You know this doesn’t exactly sound believable, right?” He sighed.

Steve huffed, still unhappy that Tony had called them crazy. “Even still-“

Bucky huffed softly and shook his head. “He’s not going to believe us until he sees her anyway, so hopefully she comes back soon and we can introdu-“

“What the-“ Tony suddenly muttered, sounding faraway and unsure of himself and if there was anything Tony Stark was _not,_ it was unsure of himself.

Bucky frowned at the sudden interruption and attempted to follow the genius’ gaze and knew Steve was doing much the same thing as they both turned to look back towards the water. Oh, it was just Leah-

Only…Bucky’s eyes widened in shock- _again-_ because he was being faced not for the first time, with something that his brain just couldn’t comprehend, and he’s seen _a lot_ in his day. He froze and knew Steve was just as still next to him as they both stared in shock as Leah started _walking_ towards them in the water, everything above the waist already exposed to their disbelieving eyes.

Not that everything above her waist wasn’t the focal point, though perhaps Steve and Bucky had an unfair advantage because they’d already seen that much of her. But below? She had _legs_.

Bucky swallowed hard. Up until this point, they’d assumed she only had tails available to her…lower extremities. They really hadn’t had any reason to believe otherwise until right then, so who could blame them for their innocence on the matter?

“T-this your friend?” Tony squeaked, all three men watching as she walked up onto the sand, water sluicing off her shapely frame, making little _drip drip_ sounds as it hit the water at her feet.

Her wet dark scales, the greys and silvers were catching in the emerging light of the moon and stars as they caught the water droplets on her frame. She looked much the same as she had in her siren form, though the legs were certainly new and covered in the same type of scales as the rest of her. Her face was still that slightly paler grey down the middle, around her eyes and throat as it carried over her breasts and down to her belly where it faded into that darker black and grey scales that covered the rest of her. Her scales seemed to almost ripple in the low light, the darker scales over her more… _sensitive_ places only grew darker, perhaps harder in way of protecting her.

Her waist was still impossibly tiny now that they could see her completely, hips rounded and near perfect, the supple swell of her stomach inviting all on its own. Her eyes were dark but bright and curious as she continued to walk towards them steadily. Her hair was slicked back, water droplets continuing to fall from her frame as she stepped closer, now only a few feet away from where they stood, looking rather slack-jawed in their awe. Steve inhaled shakily, nodding absently and Bucky found himself whispering to her, unable to raise his voice just that much higher, afraid of breaking whatever was currently happening.

“ _Leah I-_ “

She flashed him an _innocent_ smile, barely showing any teeth at all and Bucky swallowed thickly. That was not a smile he’d seen her make before. “Is this your friend, James?” Leah asked, voice a soft whispered sickly sweet.

Bucky swallowed hard, barely able to drag his eyes away from her to look at Tony. “This is-“ He cleared his throat, voice having grown rather hoarse. “Tony, he’s part of our Team we mentioned? He’s a _friend_ -“ Bucky put a little more emphasis on the word just to make it clear that he was not a threat to her, so long as she wasn’t a threat to him.

Leah’s eyes lit up at the affirmation and she practically purred the name back at them. “ _Tony._ ”

“Yeah- _hi-_ “ Tony breathed, and _oh boy_ , he sounded a little more than enamoured by her, perhaps slightly winded?

_Definitely, not good._

“You’re Steve’s family, yes?” She asked, stopping a mere two feet away from them.

Tony cast an indecipherable look to Steve, noting a light blush rising on the blond’s cheeks before looking back to Leah with a sudden lump in his throat. “I suppose I am,” He agreed quietly. “And you must be the _Leah_ they’ve been speaking of.”

She hummed, the sound unearthly and deep and yep, that was sounded a bit more like the Leah they knew. Tony shuddered hard beside them and Steve didn’t exactly fair much better as the sound seemed to crawl under his skin and settle there. Bucky managed to tamp down the urge, but only just and even then, he could feel the little uncomfortable prickle at the back of his neck as if there was someone breathing down it. He swallowed, _hard._

“I am her,” She agreed, clearly pleased they’d been talking about her, a dangerous glint in her eye that only Tony seemed oblivious to.

“ _Right_ , well I guess I’d like to thank you for saving their asses-“ “ _Tony-_ “ Steve admonished but the genius simply ignored him. “And also say that they have done you no justice. You’re stunning, _gorgeous_ and very, very interesting. I’d very much like to get a proper look at you and ask you a few questions if you’d be so inclined and I would _definitely_ like to hear all about how you managed to lug these two-“

“ _Tony-_ “ Bucky warned this time, growing frustrated.

Leah was attempting to stifle the no doubt _vicious_ smile she wanted to give the man and Bucky worried for a moment that she was going to do something terrible when she suddenly huffed, letting her gaze slip slowly down Tony’s frame as if truly considering _something._

“Alright, alright. I’m only curious is all-“ Tony admitted, shifting and watching Leah right back, that stupid glint in his eye that meant he was thinking about sciencey-things.

Tony wasn’t exactly subtle, but then again, neither was Leah.

“I suppose I say, _you’re welcome_ ,” She agreed, eyes slipping back up to Tony’s face, holding his gaze easily. “I really did not wish them to be eaten,” She said earnestly.

Tony made a very curious, yet agreeing noise in the back of his throat and Bucky rolled his eyes, unable to help himself. “She did us a huge favour,” Steve agreed quietly. “And we’re very grateful.”

Leah turned her attention to the blond and Steve gave her a timid smile of which she tilted her head slowly to the right as if considering him for a moment. “I know,” She said simply, gaze once again shifting back to Tony. “I like your scales,” She suddenly admitted, eyeing the man up and down appreciatively.

Tony grinned, practically _preening_ under the compliment. “ _Thanks,_ but technically this is armour, made out of gold-titanium-alloy I designed myself. It’s stronger than it looks, let me tell you-“

Steve was groaning softly under his breath before he’d even finished, clearly annoyed, but Tony just grinned in response to his friend. “I like _your_ scales, though. Very mermaid-esque-“

Bucky sucked in a sharp breath at the choice of words and Steve tensed bodily beside him. Leah cocked her head and fixed Tony with a very unhappy stare. “I am _not a mermaid-_ “ She whispered, her voice laced with disdain.

“Oops, touched a nerve there did I?” Tony muttered under his breath and Steve _scowled_ at his friend.

“Oh my _God-_ “ Bucky muttered, exasperated. “You have about as much self-preservation as Steve does-“

Steve rolled his eyes but didn’t disagree and Tony gave the brunet a lopsided grin, clearly not understanding in the slightest what he was currently dealing with. Not that Bucky and Steve really knew what she was entirely capable of, either.

“I am _Leah_ , and you will call me nothing else-“ She muttered in annoyance.

“Ooh, now see, that’s a deal breaker right there, grumpy-gills and _yes_ , I noticed you have gills-” Tony challenged. “I happen to _love_ giving my friends nicknames and trust me when I tell you that you aren’t the first person to attempt to deny me the pleasure of doing so. In fact, it’ll only make it worse for you, so I hope you know what you’ve done-“

Bucky wanted to bash his head against something hard and preferably soon.

“Are all your friends like him?” Leah suddenly blurted, jabbing a pointed nail in Tony’s direction as she looked between Steve and Bucky incredulously.

Steve barked out a surprise laugh and shook his head, adamantly attempting to stifle his fond smile behind the palm of his hand. “There is _no one_ _else_ like Tony,” The blond informed her.

Leah softened considerably at that little tidbit, a slow teasing smile stretching her pale grey lips and turning on Tony then. The genius looked a little conflicted about the remark, however, and was still looking at Steve rather curiously, apparently not sure how to take that.

“Alright, I think that’s enough,” Bucky sighed, attempting to get everyone to calm down a bit.

Leah huffed softly and then crossed her arms in front of her chest and they all purposely avoided allowing their gazes to fall where they really, really wanted to. “Leah,” Bucky breathed slowly. “I’m- _we’-_ “ Bucky amended. “Are really sorry, but it looks like it’s time for us to go.”

Leah’s arms instantly dropped from their defensive position as she turned to look at him, her whole body radiating disappointment. “Go home?” She asked quietly.

Bucky nodded, his brows pinching up in concern. “Yeah, we-we’ve sort of grown fond of the compound and you know…our friends-“

“Family,“ Steve added, nodding in Bucky’s direction to help him along.

Bucky nodded. “That too,” He agreed, smiling gently at Leah. “We’re sorry that we have to leave, we’re very grateful you found us when you did and for feeding us. I think poor Steve would have started eating grass if you hadn’t caught us those fish.”

Steve chuckled softly beside him, rolling his eyes and making Leah only pout a little at the adorable sound as she glanced to him. “But we do need to go home,” Bucky explained. “We have jobs…sort of…and people who are counting on us.”

Leah’s dark eyes slipped to him again and they looked so shiny in the low light. He swallowed hard and was about to say thank you once more, when Leah interrupted. “I can come?”

Bucky’s brows furrowed in confusion for a beat. “But this is your _home_ , Leah and you- _well_ , truthfully, we didn’t know you could walk on land, but we just assumed you needed to be close to water-“

But Leah was already shaking her head firmly, water droplets flying from her long hair. “I don’t need water to live and this- _this-_ “ She stated firmly, arm sweeping out behind her in an attempt to encompass the clearing, the pool of too-still water, maybe the island “Is not home. _I_ have no home, told you, I’m outcast-“

Bucky swallowed hard, shaking his head helplessly as he looked to Steve whose brows were creased in concern. “ _Leah-_ “ Steve sighed, trying to figure out how best to explain this. “Where we live is dangerous, we fight bad guys, I don’t-“

“I’ll help!” She interrupted, eyes wide and searching. “Like Hydra, _yes?_ ” She asked quickly, looking between the pair, Tony’s eyes suddenly widening at the mention of Hydra and wondering just who in the hell she was.

“ _Leah-_ “ Bucky tried to plead, but she simply spoke over him.

“ _I_ am more dangerous,” She said seriously, eyes narrowing as she gestured to herself, her figure seeming to become just that much more imposing…it suddenly felt like the darkness crept in a little quicker right then too. “ _I_ am stronger than you know.”

Bucky swallowed hard. Somehow, he really didn’t doubt that.

Tony cleared his throat slightly, growing rather impatient and annoyed at not having all the facts; not that Steve and Bucky did either. “I don’t think you know who you’re talking to exactly…Bucky-bear here? He’s the _Ghost_ , _The_ _Winter Solider_ , you know? I mean, now he goes by _White Wolf_ but like, he’s just about one of the most _dangerous_ men I know and he’s on _our_ ** _side_** , so I’m counting that as a win, but we don’t know _anything_ about you-“ Tony challenged, taking a step closer towards her. “So why would we bring you back with us to fight baddies when we don’t even know what you’re capable of? _Hell_ , we don’t even know who or _what_ you are.”

Tony may have had a point, but Bucky really didn’t want to see all that Leah was potentially capable of, not if her wrath somehow ended up directed at them.

“ _Tony-_ “ Steve whispered urgently, nervous gaze flitting between Leah and the genius, but Tony brushed him off.

“You know about Hydra, that’s something at least, does that mean you work for-“

“ _Enough!_ ” Bucky snapped, stepping in between Leah and his friend after having watched her gearing up for _something_.

“Stark! She does not work for _Hydra-_ “ He spat, watching as Tony seemed to curl in on himself, just a little.

Bucky never raised his voice to anyone, not ever. Tony may have crossed a line somewhere there. He faltered, almost instantly deflating and Bucky blinked, settling slightly, in shock at having raised his voice to begin with. He _liked_ Tony, he’d do just about anything for the man. Tony had taken him in, despite…despite _things_ and Bucky always went out of his way to thank Tony in every way that he could _without_ actually saying it out loud. Tony didn’t do well with thanks. Compliments? _No problem,_ but _thanks?_ Yeah, _no_. “I’m sorry, Tony, I-“

“Forget about it,” Tony murmured, carelessly waving him off. “It’s fine, you obviously know more than I do.”

Steve blew out a slow breath, graze flickering between the three. “We don’t know a lot, Tony…but we do know that Leah escaped from Hydra, much like Bucky…”

Tony exhaled roughly, looking between Bucky and Leah, clearly seeing her in a new light. “ _Okay_ , so, that’s my bad then, I’m sorry,” Tony quickly apologized and Tony…so rarely apologized so blatantly.

What a day…

Bucky’s shoulders slumped a little and he nodded, shifting back a step to give them all some much needed space. Leah was quiet as she watched the three men, seeming to curl in closer to Bucky subconsciously while he took a couple of deep breaths to ground himself.

“Don’t be sorry,” Leah whispered suddenly, looking to Tony as she seemed to lift her head higher, stand a little straighter. “I…don’t like Hydra and neither do you. We are on same side and you may not know what I am capable of, but I assure you that I am more dangerous than James and _far_ more dangerous than Hydra,” She explained slowly. “I want to help, however I can…when-“ She paused, then, looking back to James briefly. “When James and Steve came here…I was alone for a very long time and I…I don’t want to be lonely anymore.”

Tony merely blinked as she finished speaking looking beautiful and scary and sort of intimidating. She may not know what Steve, Bucky or even himself was capable of, but she was damn sure she was tougher than Hydra and that… _that_ had to speak for something.

So, Tony nodded, slowly at first and the more sure of himself. “Okay, you’ve won me over. What do you boys think?” Tony asked, crossing his arms in front of his armoured chest and rocking back on his heels as he looked between the pair.

Steve was smiling fondly at Tony, glancing to Leah for a beat only to land on Bucky a moment later. Bucky was staring at Tony more than a little speechless over the fact that Tony had just _agreed_ like that. Inviting a stranger into his home as if it really were no big deal when it surely was. He was taking Bucky and Steve’s word on whether Leah would be safe to have in their home, safe to have amongst their friends, their _family_ and that was…that was a big deal in Bucky’s opinion, probably Steve’s too.

Bucky wondered if Tony had agreed so easily because of Leah’s past, because she too had run from Hydra, escaped even. Had she been in their grasp long? Had she endured their torture? Bucky swallowed and resolutely did not want to think about it.

“Buck?” Steve asked quietly, motioning with his head towards Leah.

Bucky inhaled slowly before turning to face Leah properly. She’d been watching him quietly as he had his little moment, but she didn’t look impatient or frustrated with him for taking his time. She seemed to be patiently waiting, though clearly hopeful as she folded her hands in front of her belly and did her best not to fidget.

“You have to promise, Leah,” Bucky said carefully, her gaze instantly narrowing as she listened to what he had to say. “These people are our friends, our…family,” He said shakily. “We will protect them at all costs, do you understand?”

Leah was already smiling by the time he finished speaking. “No eating family, _got it,_ ” She agreed breezily, already on the move towards the portal, grinning like a shark as she turned her attention back to Tony as she stepped in close to the man. “ _Shame_ , you would be delicious,” She admitted, leaning in as close as she dared and breathing in the scent of him deeply.

Tony spluttered, stumbling back a step from her and totally _not_ flailing at the close proximity or you know, the whole _not eating family_ comment. His eyes were comically wide as he stared after her and then started questioning everything he’d just agreed to- _loudly-_ because _what the_ ** _hell?!_**

But she was already striding towards the portal, looking back over her shoulder expectantly at the three men and Steve sprung into movement with a soft laugh, darting back to where they’d been sitting to grab his shield and Bucky’s tac-vest before he was elbowing Tony and grinning at his friend as he joined Leah near the portal.

Steve was still laughing, attempting to tell him that _she didn’t really mean anything by it, Tony, don’t worry-_ and Bucky was a little more than distracted upon having seen Leah’s back before she’d turned around. Her dark scales covered the entirety of her back and down her legs. But as she walked, he could see paler grey scales at the small of her back, where dimples on a woman might be. He could also see the black scales of her buttocks and the insides of her legs were not nearly as dark as he first thought. The scales there appeared softer in comparison, much like that of the ones on her stomach, her throat and middle of her face as well.

He thought it similar to the underbelly of a snake, the comparison making him want to swallow his tongue. He swallowed thickly instead as he joined the three near the portal, the bright flickering edges still glowing away and allowing them a window into the compound’s communal living room. He didn’t seen anyone else around right then, for which he was thankful. This was going to be an experience and a half, he could see it already.

He blew out a rough breath, glancing between the three with Steve trying to calm Tony and explain that Leah had just been joking while the genius sputtered and started asking a thousand and one questions…and Leah…standing there looking much too innocent as she watched Tony essentially _flip the fuck out_. Bucky found his lips twitching at the scene before him, unable to stop himself from _actually_ smiling when Leah’s gaze found his.

If he shared a private smile with her, _well_ , Steve and Tony were too busy arguing to notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is everyone enjoying this fic so far? It's been bouncing around my head for much too long and I just need to get it out. Been trying to write faster, but this is as far as I could get for the time being. n_~ Let me know what you think? I always love comments and kudos are always super sweet. <3
> 
> Come chat with me on Discord if you like; starbucksjunkie#9171 or bug me on Tumblr? [ko-fiandfanfiction](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ko-fiandfanfiction)


	10. Chapter 10

“She’s just _joking_ , Tony,” Steve insisted, following the three through the portal, the _swish swish_ of the portal closing behind him loud in the suddenly quiet common room.

“Are you sure, Steve? Because that didn’t _sound_ like a joke,” Tony countered, looking at Leah warily as she walked further into their living space in an attempt to look around.

She hummed softly under her breath as she observed her new surroundings, taking in the couches, chairs, the kitchen too, and Tony shuddered again before shaking himself when he caught Bucky looking at him in sympathy. “You get used to it,” He said simply, shrugging his good shoulder.

Tony downright _pouted_ and opened his mouth to speak when he was suddenly caught off guard by Leah herself. She’d moved to stand right in front of him, far too silent on her feet for Tony’s liking and he almost, _almost_ jumped back a half-step, uncomfortable with the closeness…and the sudden flash of her teeth.

“ _Jesus-_ “ He hissed, flinching, just a little bit.

“It was only joke,” She agreed smoothly, still showing too many teeth for his liking and Tony swallowed hard as he attempted to calm his suddenly racing heart.

“Haha-“ He deadpanned, unamused. “We need to work on your sense of humour, my friend…and teach you about personal space while we’re at it.”

Leah stilled, her dark eyes alight in the morning sunshine filtering in from the floor to ceiling windows at their side. She was looking at Tony carefully, an unearthly stillness having come over her at his words and Tony swallowed hard, unnerved by her sudden response, _er_ or lack thereof and wondered _why._

“What?” He blurted, body growing tense beneath her intense stare.

Leah’s posture shifted then, as if her shoulders dropped just a little and she took a step back from the man before motioning to the perhaps foot of space between them now. “Acceptable?”

Tony’s brows furrowed and he nodded slowly. “Sure, I guess. You uh-“ He took a deeper breath, still watching her a touch warily. “I’d like to get out of the armour now but I-“

“She’s not going to do anything, Tony,” Steve sighed, though he was still smiling; the _bastard._ “Right, Leah?”

Leah turned her attention to the blond, nodding lightly as she made a soft noise of agreement, not entirely understanding what Tony meant but figuring she could at least agree to ease his discomfort…for the moment. Tony seemed like he’d be a lot of fun to continue to tease, so she wasn’t exactly going to promise anything indefinitely in that regard.

Tony huffed and then there was the sound of metal clinking, shifting, instantly drawing Leah’s attention back to the man before her. She _hummed_ , clearly interested as she watched the armour surrounding Tony, begin the process of receding back into the nanobot casing in the middle of his chest. It took only seconds before he was simply standing there in a pair of black slacks and a grey t-shirt that looked worse for wear. Really, his whole self looked a little worse for wear, but no one was going to say anything about it right then.

“You-“ Leah breathed, uncertain as she let her eyes roam across his smaller… _shorter_ frame. “You’re… _squishy._ ”

Tony blinked and then his cheeks positively _flamed,_ chest puffing up in indignation. “ _Excuse you!_ I am _not!_ ” He blurted, clearly affronted.

He worked out, _damnit._

Leah’s nose wrinkled, wanting to disagree, but her gaze turned concerned as she observed him and the pink spreading over his cheeks. “Yes, you are, you’re human, _squishy-_ “ She explained, brows drawing together in concern. “And turning pink- _why_ do humans keep doing that?” She queried, looking over her shoulder to Bucky and Steve who were trying very, _very_ hard not to smile.

“It’s a blush,” Bucky explained gently, amused. “He’s-he won’t _explode,_ Leah.”

“ _Eh-_ “ Steve sighed. “Maybe, if you embarrass him enough he might start blowing steam out his ears.”

Leah look horrified as she turned back to Tony. “Stop blushing, stop blushing right now,” She insisted and Tony practically squawked at the indignity of it all.

How was this his life?

He threw his hands up before covering his mouth as he huffed out a strangled sound behind clenched teeth. “Maybe if you stopped _teasing me_ , I wouldn’t be so flustered.”

Steve couldn’t stop the snicker he let out then and Tony turned a nasty scowl on him in return. “ _Hey,_ if being human makes me _squishy,_ then so are you and Buckaboo,” He hissed.

Before either super-soldier could interject, however, Leah offered her thoughts on the matter. “They are human, yes…but not so squishy that I would _call_ them squishy…only Steve’s cheeks,” She admitted thoughtfully, head suddenly cocked as she listened for a moment, taking a step away from Tony to turn her attention to the hallway, Steve making a soft noise of embarrassment behind her.

They all turned to look when Natasha and Clint suddenly rounded the corner in sleep clothes looking a little rumpled and clearly still tired, Clint making a beeline for the coffee maker and ignoring them all while Natasha stopped just inside the kitchen to stare at them. “Which cheeks?” Natasha asked, striking green eyes surveying the scene with a calculated intensity the others were well-versed in.

Leah watched as the woman’s gaze slipped past her to settle on Steve before letting her sights return to her. Leah’s lips twitched a little at the question, carefully observing the woman with shocking red hair. “Both,” She admitted, unable to stop her sneaky little smile then.

Natasha’s nose scrunched up, amused. “Fair enough,” She agreed, looking back at Steve who was doing his best impression of a tomato.

“ _Nat-_ “ Steve sighed, more than happy to see his friend, even if she was teasing him, but really, who didn’t?

The red-head smiled, inclining her head to Bucky in hello, relieved to see him too before she let her gaze flicker back to Leah. “ _Leah_ , this is our friend, Natasha,” Steve explained, watching as Nat stepped further into the room. “Nat, this is our new friend, Leah. She uh, she saved us when we fell…ended up in the ocean, off a small island.”

Natasha nodded slowly, parsing through the information, knowing she would have to get all of the details later. “Leah,” Natasha murmured, gaze drawing towards the dark creature before her, standing amongst her friends looking comfortable and deadly in equal measure.

Leah nodded, shifting her stance to appear more open, but Nat wasn’t exactly fooled. “Natasha,” She murmured in kind.

“Thanks for saving them, it’s nice to meet you,” Natasha offered, gaze never leaving hers.

Leah huffed, a soft puff of air more than anything as she let her gaze sweep over the red-head’s frame from top to bottom. Her brow lifted after a moment of observation and she gave Natasha one of those terrifying smiles that was more teeth than anything. “You’re dangerous,” She stated simply.

Natasha’s lips quirked as she let her green eyes drift along Leah’s frame before meeting those dark eyes once more. “She’s smart, I like her,” She admitted, breezing through the living room not a moment later towards Steve to give him a hug.

Steve huffed a soft laugh as her arms slipped around his middle and he returned her embrace comfortably, Leah turning to watch. Their hug broke after only a moment and Leah did not fail to notice how Natasha then carefully telegraphed her movements as she went to Bucky and placed a careful hand against his right bicep in a hello. Bucky didn’t flinch exactly, but it was a close thing, breathing out harshly through his nose as he let her touch him, leaning in to that touch the barest amount to show he returned the sentiment.

Leah had figured out pretty quickly that he didn’t like to be touched, having watched the way he and Steve interacted over the last few days. He seemed to accept Steve’s touch though, didn’t exactly shy away from it, just…processed it before he was able to relax. She wondered at him, not for the first time.

“Guess we should introduce you to the train wreck that is Clint,” Tony sighed, still attempting to get over the fact that he’d been called _squishy,_ motioning to the archer who was currently cradling a mug of steaming coffee, eyes closed as he inhaled the scent of it deeply, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

Leah’s gaze slipped towards the sandy-haired man easily and she gave him an appraising once-over, assessing. “Clint, are you done making out with your coffee yet?” Natasha sighed, striding over to the man in question as he hummed happily under his breath, eyes still closed in bliss.

“Whaa?” He asked, still half asleep as he continued to inhale the scent of his coffee, Tony’s soft noise of want registering briefly as he headed over to pour himself a mug of the liquid gold too.

It wasn’t until he finally took a sip and then moaned happily at the taste that Natasha cleared her throat impatiently from his side. The archer lowered his mug, his lashes fluttering open slowly to finally settle on Natasha before she motioned to the others.

“Oh _hey,_ you’re back. That’s great,” He admitted, smiling and nodding his head along, still looking half asleep as his eyes swept over his friends and then settled on Leah.

The double take he did was so endearing, Natasha went so far as to roll her eyes fondly at her partner. “Uh, hi?” Clint greeted, one hand relinquishing its grasp on his mug to wave tiredly at her.

“This is _Leah,_ ” Bucky offered, a touch exasperated, but that wasn’t anything new when it came to Clint. “Leah, this is Clint.”

Leah nodded slowly, gaze still trained on the man as he held his mug but no longer drank from it, a little stunned by what was in front of him, apparently. Leah was sort of hard to swallow. “ _Right_ …well…” He trailed off, eyes kind of wide and confused. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Leah’s brow rose curiously, but she simply smiled at him, barely showing any teeth this time too. “You’re quite harmless then.”

Clint spluttered, eyes widening in surprise and Natasha grinned while the others started laughing lightly. “Oh, I _really_ like her,” Natasha. chuckled.

Leah looked right pleased with herself, garnering such a response, dark eyes slowly slipping to the edge of the kitchen where Bruce had suddenly appeared. He stood frozen in place, clutching a mug of tea and morning paper tucked under his armpit as he surveyed the group. “Good morning,” He said slowly, sharp eyes flitting over Bucky, Tony and Steve with relief before settling on Leah. “Glad to see everyones back in one piece.”

Tony huffed, folding his arms across his chest as he nodded, relieved to see his friend, instantly reminded of an important fact. “Apparently Steve had a bit of a concussion, think you can take a look at him?”

“ _Tony-_ “ Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “I’m fine, really.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony muttered, rolling his eyes as he waved him off. “They both broke a few ribs too, so-“

“ _Tony-_ “ Bucky sighed, hand instinctively going to his side where his ribs had broken and pushing down lightly.

There was very little pain at the move and he shook his head. “Mine’r fine, but you should still check Steve-“

“Mine are fine too,” Steve said defensively, rather annoyed at being babied… _again_ by his friend[s].

He grimaced at how irritated he sounded and blew out a slow breath before walking up to stand next to Leah. “Bruce, this is Leah. Leah, Bruce,” He introduced, hoping to distract them long enough to perhaps evade being taken to medical.

Bruce nodded, surreptitiously trying to look at all of her without actually giving her a once-over. It was sweet, Leah thought, but unnecessary. “Hello, Leah. It’s nice to meet you.”

Her brows furrowed again, slightly baffled. Why was it _nice?_ She shook it off, a little confused and not wanting to appear as such among Steve and Bucky’s friends. She shrugged a little, attempting to look flippant as she started walking towards the kitchen, coming around the centre island. She was eerily silent on her feet and Tony was both impressed and annoyed that he’d have yet another stealthy being under his roof. He hated being startled and he figured she was bound to do it, knowingly…or unknowingly around him.

Clint didn’t move from his spot at the counter, just watched her carefully, maybe a tad warily when she stopped a couple of feet away from Bruce, who was watching her with interest and apprehension warring in his eyes. “Bruce…” She said slowly, eyeing him up and down with obvious appraisal. “You’re more dangerous than you look.”

Bruce’s lips twitched gently in response as he regarded her. “Very observant,” He chuckled, pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his noise as he glanced towards Steve and Bucky as if to say, _should I be worried?_

Steve just sort of smiled and shrugged and then Tony was interrupting whatever was going on in the kitchen. “So, I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m starving. We got any bacon? What about eggs?” He was already striding to the fridge to start pulling out ingredients, not that he had any intention of _making_ food himself, but he figured _someone_ would.

Steve and Bucky both groaned in unison. “ _Please_ tell me there’s bacon,” Steve sighed, coming into the room further to plop himself down onto a stool at the kitchen island, setting his shield down beside the counter along with a few of his and Bucky’s belongings.

Tony didn’t reply, simply held the packet he’d found up in the air and Steve swore he started salivating right then and there. There was the soft murmur of agreement as Natasha and Bruce decided to take up the mantle of cooking breakfast, figuring it was the least they could do since their teammates had been M.I.A. for the last few days and Tony had been pretty well gone along for the ride in his attempt to find them.

There was idle chatter as the group started asking about where the two had ended up and how they’d met Leah. Steve did the majority of the explaining, tired as he was, but Bucky nodded along when asked any questions and Tony interrupting with his usual commentary when he felt it was necessary. Which was pretty well _all the time._ Natasha and Bruce made breakfast while everyone settled in at the counter, sipping coffee, tea and juice while they chatted.

Leah hadn’t seated herself at the counter with them, having opted for sitting up on the counter near the sink to better observe the group. She’s spoken a little when asked questions, but her answers were anything but plain. Mostly she just sat there and listened- _watched_ -as everyone made themselves comfortable and enjoyed their breakfast together. Bruce was clearly curious about her, as was Tony, though they figured that was their sciencey-side getting the better of them.

Steve and Bucky were clearly starting to look dead on their feet, not that they were standing or anything. They hadn’t showered properly in a few days, both feeling rather grungy and now that they had food in their bellies, they were feeling ripe with exhaustion. Tony didn’t seem to be fairing much better, having slumped over the kitchen island to simply breathe in the scent of his third cup of coffee…which was doing nothing to keep him awake at this point.

“I think we should probably head up to get showered, maybe take a nap,” Steve sighed, Bucky murmuring something in the affirmative as well.

“You too, Tony,” Bucky said gruffly upon noticing the genius was about to do yet another head-bob into his coffee.

Tony breathed out sharply, startled at hearing his own name, but nodded eagerly. “Yeah, yeah, sleep, shower…sounds good,” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I-uh, Jarvis can show Leah to one of the spare rooms.”

Leah’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Jarvis?”

“Yeah,” Tony sighed, getting up and rubbing at his temple. “ _Oh_ , sorry, forgot to-he’s my A.I., J, go ahead and introduce yourself, buddy.”

“Hello miss Leah, I am Jarvis. Sir’s artificial intelligence,” Jarvis intoned, voice carrying through whatever invisible speakers Tony had placed throughout the space.

The group had long since stopped looking for them or the cameras, though they’d figured most of it out by now. Leah’s eyes widened at the sound of the British voice and she made a curious sound as she tipped her head up towards the ceiling, hopping down from her perch on the counter. “Jarvis? What…what a pleasant voice…and name,” She admitted, gaze slipping to where Bucky was watching her quietly.

Bucky figured that was a dig on his _silly name_ and couldn’t help the slight quirk of his lips.

“Thank you, miss Leah,” Jarvis’ smooth voice filled the space once more and no one bothered to tell Leah he wasn’t in the ceiling when she peered up at it once again at the sound of his voice. “I am here to guide you however I can. If you have any questions or concerns, please do no hesitate to ask.”

Leah made another curious sound and nodded, murmuring a soft thanks before Tony was getting up, pushing his stool back as he stood. “Great, so now that introductions are finished, Jarvis can show you to your room. There’s a spare suite on Cap’s floor you can stay in, let you get comfortable and all that.”

Leah made a curious sound, brow furrowing as her gaze shifted back to Tony. “Why would I need room?”

Tony blinked at her. “So you can have your own space, get some sleep, rest…you know…I can have your kitchen stocked within the hour too, just need a list for Jarvis.”

Leah’s brows smoothed out in understanding. “I don’t need room,” She stated plainly. “I don’t sleep.”

Tony’s mouth opened and then closed…not really sure what to make of that. He shook his head. “But still, I’m sure you want your own space. We can talk about your desire to uh… _help_ with things tomorrow, when we’ve had time to rest.”

“No,” She said firmly, gaze sweeping to where Bucky had picked up his vest and was watching her curiously, apparently not having known that she didn’t sleep. “I will stay with James.”

Bucky was not quick enough to hide his obvious surprise, eyes widening and lips parting. He clearly hadn’t been expecting that and now everyone was looking at him expectantly, Leah included. “Uh, well I don’t think there’s a spare room or anything for you in our apartment-“ Bucky admitted, looking to Steve for some kind of help.

“We do have the study, neither of us are really using. We could uh, put a bed in there-“ Steve offered.

“I don’t require bed,” Leah supplied. “I only wish to be near you,” She explained, gaze trained on Bucky.

Bucky swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat, feeling pinned beneath that stare. He nodded slowly. “Sure-“ He cleared his throat. “I’m sure Steve and I could make space for you on our floor…it’s a big apartment and you’re-you’re welcome to join us.”

Leah hummed, the sound just as unnerving as it was when they’d first met her. “Thank you,” She said simply.

Bucky didn’t say anything to that and Steve cleared his throat lightly from beside him, having retrieved his shield. “We can bring you upstairs, Leah, get you settled and see about ordering you a few necessities…anything you might need.”

Leah nodded slowly, knowing she wouldn’t need anything, but agreeing if it would make Steve happy.“Alright,” She murmured, gaze flickering to the blond before settling back on Bucky.

His gaze was on the floor, he was clearly thinking about something, what she hadn’t the faintest. But he looked tired, as did Steve. She wouldn’t keep them from their sleep any longer. “Lead the way.”

Steve gave her a gentle smile and nodded, before turning to address their friends. “We’ll see you guys later, maybe we’ll come down for dinner.”

“Course, you guys get some rest, don’t worry if you don’t make it down, we can see you tomorrow if you like,” Natasha assured, watching the three start towards the elevators.

“Actually, Steve-“ Tony called, having moved towards the hallway that would take him to the workshop, waiting as the blond turned to look at him. “Could you come down to the workshop for a few? I wanted to talk to you about that uh, thing with the suit? I noticed it wasn’t-“

“Oh, _sure-_ of course, Tony,” Steve said quickly and Tony nodded, pleased as the blond shot a quick look to Bucky. “I’ll be up in a bit, that okay, Buck?”

Bucky nodded. “Yeah, I-I’ll probably shower and lay down for a bit, I’ll see you later.”

Steve nodded, murmuring his agreement before he headed towards Tony who was watching Bucky carefully. “It’s good to have you back, Wolf. You too Cap,” Tony said quietly, gaze slipping between the soldiers before settling on Steve.

Steve simply smiled at his friend, reaching out and clasping the genius’ shoulder gently, squeezing him carefully. “It’s good to be back,” He agreed.

Tony nodded, lips quirking in a genuine smile before he inclined his head towards the hallway. “Let’s uh, go take a look then, yeah?”

“Sure, Tony,” Steve agreed, turning briefly to wave to his friends and cast a reassuring smile to Bucky who was watching them quietly.

“See you later, Tony,” Bucky called softly, nodding to Steve before glancing back at their friends.

They waved him off with soft words and smiles and Bucky inhaled deeply before turning back to the elevator, only to find Leah standing right there, gaze slipping away from where Tony and Steve disappeared, to settle on Bucky once again.

He motioned towards the elevator doors in front of them and they slid open, courtesy of Jarvis. They made it up to the apartment he shared with Steve…and now Leah, without any issues. Though Leah had been rather curious about how everything worked, Jarvis doing his level best to explain it to her so Bucky didn’t have to.

It’s not that he didn’t want to, it’s just that he was feeling rather tired and gross and he really did just want to curl up in his bed…after a thoroughly hot shower, preferably. But Jarvis seemed happy enough to explain what he could to her without any interference, so there was that.

By the time they’d made it up to their suite, Leah was conversing easily with Jarvis, the A.I. only pausing in his explanations when Bucky led her through the living room and swept an arm out. “This is uh, our living room. There’s a television-Jarvis can help you with it if you want. Uh, there’s the kitchen, please help yourself to anything you want, ask Jarvis for anything you think you might need, he’ll do his best to get it for you.”

Leah nodded quietly, gaze sweeping over the living space and taking it all in. It was by no means a small space, lots of room to move about, a couple of couches, comfy chairs, a kitchen table that fit six.

“There’s a guest bathroom just off the living room there,” Bucky told her, motioning off to their left. “Down here-“ He motioned towards the hallway on the right. “Are our bedrooms. Mine is on the right, Steve’s is on the left and further up is a sort of den or office space. Steve uses it to paint from time to time, I like to read in there…if you need anything, please let us or Jarvis know, like I said,” Bucky told her, gaze sweeping over her unearthly frame, taking in the darkness she seemed to exude…or perhaps the darkness that seemed to follow her.

He shook himself of the thought as Leah nodded slowly, turning back to face Bucky as she’d strayed a little farther into the apartment towards the kitchen. “Thank you, James,” She said quietly, gaze dark and boring into his with an intensity he couldn’t quite bring himself to look away from.

He swallowed hard, still unable to break their staring contest a moment later. “Least we could do…seeing as you saved us and all.”

“Go get some sleep, James. I will entertain myself…Jarvis will keep me company,” She murmured, blinking and finally pulling her darkened gaze away from his.

Bucky tried not to shudder at the unnerving double blink, grateful she didn’t do it all that often. He nodded, breathing out slowly. “Will do…uh, get some rest too…if you need it,” He offered, realizing how awkward it sounded but couldn’t really offer her anything else.

She hummed in response, offering him a small smile, one with considerably less teeth, before she walked over to one of the couches and draped herself over it as if she owned it. Bucky’s lips quirked as he forced himself to turn away and head towards his room to strip, shower and sleep. In that order. He’d think about everything else once he was comfortable in his own skin, clean clothes and properly rested.


End file.
